Basis of Presentation (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Basis of Presentation (Policies)	Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Revenue Recognition	Revenue Recognition Under the Company’s amended affiliate agreement, Sprint agreed to waive the management fee, which is historically presented as a contra-revenue by the Company, for a period of approximately six years. The impact of Sprint’s waiver of the management fee over the approximate six-year period is reflected as an increase in revenue, offset by the non-cash adjustment to recognize this impact on a straight-line basis over the contract term of approximately 14 years.
Goodwill	Goodwill Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment on at least an annual basis. Impairment testing is required more often than annually if an event or circumstance indicates that impairment is more likely than not to have occurred. In conducting its annual impairment testing, the Company may first perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount. If not, no further goodwill impairment testing is required. If it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount, or if the Company elects not to perform a qualitative assessment of a reporting unit, the Company then compares the fair value of the reporting unit to the related net book value. If the net book value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is measured and recognized. The Company conducts its annual impairment testing of goodwill as of October 1.
Pension Benefits and Retirement Benefits Other Than Pensions	Pension Benefits and Retirement Benefits Other Than Pensions Through the Company’s acquisition of nTelos, the Company assumed nTelos’ non-contributory defined benefit pension plan (“Pension Plan”) covering all employees who met eligibility requirements and were employed by nTelos prior to October 1, 2003. The Pension Plan was closed to nTelos employees hired on or after October 1, 2003. Pension benefits vest after five years of plan service and are based on years of service and an average of the five highest consecutive years of compensation subject to certain reductions if the employee retires before reaching age 65 and elects to receive the benefit prior to age 65. Effective December 31, 2012, nTelos froze future benefit accruals. The Company uses updated mortality tables published by the Society of Actuaries that predict increasing life expectancies in the United States. IRC Sections 412 and 430 and Sections 302 and 303 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended establish minimum funding requirements for defined benefit pension plans. The minimum required contribution is generally equal to the target normal cost plus the shortfall amortization installments for the current plan year and each of the six preceding plan years less any calculated credit balance. If plan assets (less calculated credits) are equal to or exceed the funding target, the minimum required contribution is the target normal cost reduced by the excess funding, but not below zero. The Company’s policy is to make contributions to stay at or above the threshold required in order to prevent benefit restrictions and related additional notice requirements and is intended to provide not only for benefits based on service to date, but also for those expected to be earned in the future. The Company also assumed two qualified nonpension postretirement benefit plans that provide certain health care and life benefits for nTelos retired employees that meet eligibility requirements. The health care plan is contributory, with participants’ contributions adjusted annually. The life insurance plan also is contributory. These obligations, along with all of the pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans, are obligations assumed by the Company. Eligibility for the life insurance plan is restricted to active pension participants age 50-64 as of January 5, 1994. Neither plan is eligible to employees hired after April 1993. The accounting for the plans anticipates that the Company will maintain a consistent level of cost sharing for the benefits with the retirees. The Company’s share of the projected costs of benefits that will be paid after retirement is generally being accrued by charges to expense over the eligible employees’ service periods to the dates they are fully eligible for benefits. The Company records annual amounts relating to the Pension Plan and postretirement benefit plans based on calculations that incorporate various actuarial and other assumptions, including discount rates, mortality, assumed rates of return, turnover rates and healthcare cost trend rates. The Company reviews its assumptions on an annual basis and makes modifications to the assumptions based on current rates and trends when it is appropriate to do so. The effect of modifications to those assumptions is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) and amortized to net periodic cost over future periods using the corridor method.
Adoption of New Accounting Principles	During 2016, the Company adopted four recent accounting principles: Accounting Standards Update 2015-3, “Interest – Imputation of Interest” (ASU 2015-3), ASU 2015-17, “Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes”, ASU 2016-9, “Improvements to Employee Share-based Payment Accounting,” and ASU 2015-16, “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments.” ASU 2015-3 requires that premiums, discounts, and loan fees and costs associated with long term debt be reflected as a reduction of the outstanding debt balance. Previous guidance had treated such loan fees and costs as a deferred charge on the balance sheet. As a result of implementing ASU 2015-3, the Company reclassified $1.6 million of unamortized loan fees and costs included in deferred charges and other assets as of December 31, 2015 to long-term debt. Approximately $0.5 million was allocated to current maturities of long-term debt, and $1.1 million to long term debt. Total assets, as well as total liabilities and shareholders’ equity, were also reduced by the same $1.6 million. In addition, the Company reclassified $4.3 million of unamortized loan fees and costs included in deferred charges and other assets to long term debt in connection with the new Term loan A-1 and A-2 borrowing related to the acquisition of nTelos. Total assets, as well as total liabilities and shareholders’ equity, were also reduced by the same $4.3 million. There was no impact on the statements of income or cash flows. ASU 2015-17 simplifies accounting for deferred taxes by eliminating the requirement to present deferred tax assets and liabilities as current and non-current in a classified balance sheet. Due to the immaterial balance of current deferred tax assets ($0.9 million as of December 31, 2015), the Company has elected to apply this guidance prospectively, and thus prior periods have not been retrospectively adjusted. ASU 2016-9 simplifies certain provisions related to the accounting for the tax effects of stock-based compensation transactions. In particular for the Company, it eliminates the requirement to determine for each award whether the difference between book compensation and tax compensation results in an excess tax benefit or a tax deficiency, which generally speaking, result in an entry to additional paid-in-capital. Under the new guidance, all tax effects for exercised or vested awards are recognized as discrete items in income tax expense. The new guidance also allows an employer to withhold shares to cover more than the minimum statutory withholding taxes (but not more than the maximum statutory withholding requirements) without causing an equity-classified award to become a liability classified award. The other provisions of the new guidance are either not applicable or have no significant impact on the Company’s accounting for stock-based compensation transactions. The Company has elected to early adopt the new guidance and apply it prospectively to tax effects on share-based compensation transactions. ASU 2015-16 requires that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. See Note 2 for adjustments recorded during the third quarter of 2016.