Property, Plant and Equipment (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Years	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Land and rights-of-way	$ 4,300,000	$ 4,300,000
Buildings and leasehold improvements	165,000,000	170,500,000
Network equipment	2,959,300,000	2,686,800,000
Office software, furniture, fixtures and vehicles	131,400,000	123,900,000
Construction in process	29,200,000	25,700,000
Gross value	3,289,200,000	3,011,200,000
Accumulated depreciation	(2,313,700,000)	(2,195,800,000)
Property, plant and equipment, net	975,500,000	815,400,000
Depreciation	$ 141,300,000	$ 127,200,000	$ 126,300,000
Depreciation associated with cost of providing services	79.00%	81.00%	81.00%
Impairment of assets, excluding goodwill	$ 0	$ (4,600,000)	$ 0
Capital Lease and Other Financing Arrangements Assets, Gross	91,200,000	39,800,000
Capital Leases, Net of Depreciation, Retained After Sale of Business, Affiliate and Productive Assets	$ 57,700,000
Land [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	20 years
Equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life, Minimum in Practice | Years	7
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life, Maximum in Practice | Years	22
copper assets [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
property, plant, and equipment, copper asset useful life, prior to remeasurement	$ 15
property, plant, and equipment, copper assets useful life, after remeasurement	$ 7
Entertainment and Communications [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Impairment of assets, excluding goodwill		$ 4,600,000
Minimum [Member] | Building and Building Improvements [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	3 years
Minimum [Member] | Equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	2 years
Minimum [Member] | Furniture and Fixtures [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	2 years
Maximum [Member] | Building and Building Improvements [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	40 years
Maximum [Member] | Equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	50 years
Maximum [Member] | Furniture and Fixtures [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, Plant and Equipment, Useful Life	14 years