Long-Term Debt and Revolving Promissory Note (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified									0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior notes Minimum	Sep. 30, 2014 Senior notes Maximum	Sep. 30, 2014 Revolving promissory note CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving promissory note CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate	Sep. 29, 2014 Qwest Corporation Senior notes Notes, 6.875 percent due 2054	Oct. 01, 2014 Subsequent event Qwest Corporation Senior notes Notes, 7.500 percent due 2014
Long-term debt
Long-term debt, gross			$ 7,911	$ 7,411
Capital Lease and Other Obligations	40	72
Unamortized premiums, net			41	75
Total long-term debt	7,992	7,558
Less current maturities	(721)	(637)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities	7,271	6,921
Long-term debt, face amount									500
Interest rate (as a percent)					6.125%	8.375%			6.875%	7.50%
Proceeds from issuance of senior long-term debt									483
Maximum borrowing capacity							1,000
Note payable-affiliate							775	754
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)							6.677%
Accrued interest payable on related party note payable							17
Debt instrument, repurchased face amount										$ 600