Description of Business and Accounting Policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation — The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, other comprehensive income, financial position and cash flows for each period presented. The adjustments referred to above are of a normal and recurring nature. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to SEC rules and regulations for interim reporting. Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted the requirements of Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, and ASU 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. All amounts and disclosures set forth in this Form 10-Q have been updated to comply with the new standards. Certain prior period amounts reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation as a result of adopting the new standards. On January 1, 2018, the Company changed the composition of its operating segments to align more closely with the Company's broader strategy and how it manages business operations. With the exception of consumer long distance revenue, this strategy groups Competitive Local Exchange Carrier ("CLEC") revenue, which was previously included as part of the Entertainment and Communications segment, as part of the IT Services and Hardware segment in order to consolidate all company-wide VoIP sales. Accordingly, the Company recast the previously reported 2017 segment disclosures. See Note 14 for further disclosures. In July 2018, the Company acquired Hawaiian Telcom. Based on the product or service, Hawaiian Telcom results were integrated into either the Entertainment and Communications segment or the IT Services and Hardware segment. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2017 was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year or any other interim period.
Business Combinations	Business Combinations — In accounting for business combinations, we apply the accounting requirements of Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC 805"), “Business Combinations,” which requires the recording of net assets of acquired businesses at fair value. In developing fair value estimates for acquired assets and assumed liabilities, management analyzes a variety of factors including market data, estimated future cash flows of the acquired operations, industry growth rates, current replacement cost for fixed assets, and market rate assumptions for contractual obligations. Such a valuation requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions, particularly with respect to the intangible assets. In addition, any contingent consideration is presented at fair value at the date of acquisition, and transaction costs are expensed as incurred. See Note 4 for disclosures related to mergers and acquisitions.
Use of Estimates	Use of Estimates — Preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to various regulatory and tax proceedings, lawsuits, claims and other matters. The Company believes adequate provision has been made for all such asserted and unasserted claims in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes that are not predictable with assurance.
Investment in CyrusOne	Investment in CyrusOne — In the first quarter of 2017, the Company sold its remaining 2.8 million shares of CyrusOne Inc. common stock for net proceeds totaling $140.7 million that resulted in a realized gain of $117.7 million. As of March 31, 2017, we no longer had an investment in CyrusOne Inc.
Income Taxes	Income taxes — The Company’s income tax provision for interim periods is determined through the use of an estimated annual effective tax rate applied to year-to-date ordinary income as well as the tax effects associated with discrete items. During 2017, the Company re-classed $14.9 million of Alternative Minimum Tax ("AMT") refundable tax credits from "Deferred income taxes, net" to "Receivables" as these credits were expected to be utilized during 2018. Acceleration of the AMT refundable tax credits was the result of the Company's decision to make an election on its 2017 federal income tax return to claim the credits in lieu of claiming bonus depreciation. The Company received the $14.9 million of payments during the second quarter of 2018. In addition, new tax legislation enacted in 2017 repealed AMT for corporate tax payers. The balance of any remaining AMT credits will be refunded over the next 5 years beginning with the return filed in 2019. In the first quarter of 2018, the Company re-classed $0.7 million from "Deferred income taxes, net" to "Receivables" as it expects to receive this portion of the remaining AMT credits in 2019. The Company filed its 2017 federal income tax return during the quarter ended June 30, 2018 and confirms that the accounting for the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law on December 22, 2017 is now complete.
Operating Taxes	Operating taxes — The Company elected to record certain operating taxes such as property, sales, use, and gross receipts taxes including telecommunications surcharges as expenses, primarily within cost of services and products. These taxes are not included in income tax expense because the amounts to be paid are not dependent on our level of income. Liabilities for audit exposures are established based on management's assessment of the probability of payment. The provision for such liabilities is recognized as either property, plant and equipment, operating tax expense, or depreciation expense depending on the nature of the audit exposure. Upon resolution of an audit, any remaining liability not paid is released against the account in which it was originally recorded. Certain telecommunication taxes and surcharges that are collected from customers are also recorded as revenue; however, with the adoption of ASC 606, revenue associated with these charges is excluded from the transaction price. This approach is consistent with how these taxes were previously recorded under ASC Topic 605.
Derivative Financial Instruments	Derivative Financial Instruments — The Company accounts for derivative financial instruments by recognizing derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at fair value and recognizing the resulting gains or losses as adjustments to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations or "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)". The Company does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. For derivative instruments that hedge the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows that are designated and qualify as cash flow hedges, the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of "Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)" in stockholder's equity and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. To receive hedge accounting treatment, cash flow hedges must be highly effective in offsetting changes to expected future cash flows on hedged transactions. Derivatives that do not qualify as hedges are adjusted to fair value through earnings in the current period.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards	Recently Issued Accounting Standards In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software, which aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements in ASU 350-40 for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The amendments in this ASU also require the entity to present the expense related to the capitalized implementation costs in the same line item in the statement of income as the fees associated with the hosting element of the arrangement and classify payments for capitalized implementation costs in the statement of cash flows in the same manner as payments made for fees associated with the hosting element. The amendments in this ASU are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments should be applied either retrospectively or prospectively to all implementation costs incurred after the date of adoption. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period after issuance of the update. The Company is in the process of evaluating the timing of adoption and the impact of this ASU on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements. In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220) - Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, which allows entities to elect to make a one-time reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The ASU is effective for public entities for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and for interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company early adopted this guidance effective December 31, 2017, resulting in a reclassification adjustment of $32.2 million to "Accumulated deficit" from "Accumulated other comprehensive loss" on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The amount of the reclassification is calculated on the basis of the difference between the historical and newly enacted tax rates on deferred taxes related to our pension and postretirement benefit plans. In August 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-12, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities, which improves the hedge accounting model to facilitate financial reporting that more closely reflects a company’s risk management activities. The FASB’s new guidance will make more financial and nonfinancial hedging strategies eligible for hedge accounting. It also amends the presentation and disclosure requirements and changes how companies assess effectiveness. It is intended to more closely align hedge accounting with companies’ risk management strategies, simplify the application of hedge accounting, and increase transparency as to the scope and results of hedging programs. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period after issuance of the update. The Company early-adopted the guidance effective April 1, 2018. In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost, which amends the requirements in ASC 715 related to the income statement presentation of the components of net periodic benefit cost for an entity’s sponsored defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans. The ASU requires entities to disaggregate the current service cost component from the other components of net benefit cost (the “other components”) and present it with other current compensation costs for related employees in the income statement. The other components shall be presented elsewhere in the income statement and outside of income from operations, if such a subtotal is presented, on a retrospective basis as of the date of adoption. In addition, only the service cost component of net benefit cost is eligible for capitalization on a prospective basis. The ASU is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company retrospectively adopted the standard effective January 1, 2018. The Company re-classed $1.5 million of other components of net benefit cost from both "Cost of services and products" and "Selling, general and administrative" to a new line below Operating income, "Other components of pension and postretirement benefit plans expense," on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended September 30, 2017. The Company re-classed $4.8 million and $4.6 million of other components of net benefit cost from "Cost of services and products" and "Selling, general and administrative," respectively, to a new line below Operating income, "Other components of pension and postretirement benefit plans expense," on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2017. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flow - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which amends ASC 230 to add or clarify guidance on the classification of certain cash receipts and payments in the statement of cash flows. The FASB issued the ASU with the intent of reducing diversity in practice. The ASU is effective for public entities for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company adopted this standard effective January 1, 2018. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which represents a wholesale change to lease accounting. The standard introduces a lessee model that brings most leases on the balance sheet, as well as aligns certain underlying principles of the new lessor model with those in ASC 606. The ASU is effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. As issued, the standard requires lessors and lessees to use a modified retrospective transition method for existing leases. ASU 2016-02 was amended in January 2018 by the provisions of ASU 2018-01, “Land Easement Practical Expedient for Transition to Topic 842,” and in July 2018 by the provisions of ASU 2018-10, “Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases,” and ASU 2018-11, “Targeted Improvements.” We plan to adopt ASU 2016-02, as amended, effective January 1, 2019. The Company has substantially completed procedures to identify the existing lease population to which the new standard is applicable. The Company is also in the process of implementing changes to accounting policies, processes, systems, and internal controls. The Company procured a third-party lease accounting software solution to facilitate the ongoing accounting and financial reporting requirements of the ASU. The new standard will result in increases to the assets and liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company is currently evaluating the full impact of adopting the new standard. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This standard also includes expanded disclosure requirements that result in an entity providing users of financial statements with comprehensive information about the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from the entity’s contracts with customers. The Company adopted the new standard and all subsequent amendments as of January 1, 2018. The Company utilized the full retrospective method; therefore, each prior reporting period presented was adjusted beginning with the issuance of the Company’s 2018 interim financial statements. The most significant impact of adopting the new standard is the change to the treatment of hardware revenue in the Infrastructure Solutions category from recording hardware revenue as a principal (gross) to recording revenue as an agent (net). Based on our assessment of ASU 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), issued by the FASB in March 2016, the Company acts as an agent and as such will record hardware sales net of the related cost of products. ASU 2016-08 clarifies the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations focusing on a control model rather than a risk and reward model. As a result of adopting ASU 2014-09, revenue and cost of products for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, decreased by $33.6 million and $96.8 million, respectively. Changes in accounting policies related to variable consideration or rebates did not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements. Fulfillment and acquisition costs that are now recorded as an asset and amortized on a monthly basis decreased expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 by $0.2 million and $0.8 million, respectively. This change to expense for fulfillment and acquisition costs increased basic and diluted earnings per share for the three months ended September 30, 2017 by $0.01 and increased basic and diluted earnings per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 by $0.02 and $0.01, respectively. An incremental asset related to fulfillment and acquisition costs of $32.3 million was recorded on the balance sheet as of December 31, 2017, with an offsetting reduction in "Accumulated deficit." As a result of the entry, the total contract asset related to fulfillment and acquisition costs was $32.4 million as of December 31, 2017. The impact of these adjustments resulted in a decrease of $7.1 million to "Deferred income tax assets" as of December 31, 2017, with the offset to "Accumulated deficit." See Note 3 for additional disclosures as a result of adopting ASC Topic 606. Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standard-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
Earnings Per Share	Basic earnings per common share (“EPS”) is based upon the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that would occur upon issuance of common shares for awards under stock-based compensation plans or conversion of preferred stock, but only to the extent that they are considered dilutive.
Revenue	The Entertainment and Communications segment provides products and services to both consumer and enterprise customers that can be categorized as either Fioptics in Cincinnati or Consumer/SMB in Hawaii (collectively, "Consumer/SMB"), Enterprise Fiber or Legacy. The products and services within these three categories can be further categorized as either Data, Voice, Video or Other. Consumer/SMB and Legacy revenue include both consumer and enterprise customers. Enterprise Fiber revenue includes ethernet and dedicated internet access services that are provided to enterprise customers, as well as revenue associated with the trans-Pacific submarine cable ("SEA-US"). Consumer customers have implied month-to-month contracts, while enterprise customers, with the exception of contracts associated with the SEA-US, typically have contracts with a duration of one to five years and automatically renew on a month to month basis. Customers are invoiced on a monthly basis for services rendered. Contracts for projects that are included within the Other revenue stream are typically short in duration and less than one year. The IT Services and Hardware segment provides a full range of Information Technology ("IT") solutions, including Communications, Cloud and Consulting services. IT Services and Hardware customers enter into contracts that have a typical duration of one to five years, with varied renewal options at the end of the term. Customers are invoiced on a monthly basis for services rendered. The IT Services and Hardware segment also provides enterprise customers with Infrastructure Solutions, which includes the sale of hardware and maintenance contracts. These contracts are typically satisfied in less than twelve months and revenue is recognized at a point in time. The Company accounts for revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which was adopted on January 1, 2018, using the full retrospective method. See below for further discussion of the adoption, including the impact on our 2017 financial statements. The Company has elected the practical expedient described in ASC 606-10-32-18 that allows an entity to not adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component if the entity expects that the period of time between the transfer of a promised good or service to the customer and when the customer pays for such good or service will be one year or less. Customers are typically billed immediately upon the rendering of services or the delivery of products. Payment terms for customers are between 30 and 180 days. Subsequent to the merger of Hawaiian Telcom, the Company began recognizing a financing component associated with the up-front payments for services to be delivered under indefeasible right of use ("IRU") contracts for fiber circuit capacity. The IRU contracts are associated with the SEA-US. The IRU contracts typically have a duration ranging from 15 to 25 years.
Fair Value Measurement	The fair value of the interest rate swap is categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy as it is based on well-recognized financial principles and available market data. The fair value of our long-term debt was based on closing or estimated market prices of the Company’s debt at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, which is considered Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. The fair value of other financing arrangements was calculated using a discounted cash flow model that incorporates current borrowing rates for obligations of similar duration, which is considered Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.