Amount of amortization expense for asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Description of timing for satisfying performance obligation in contract with customer. Includes, but is not limited to, as services are rendered, and upon shipment, delivery or completion of service.

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Percentage Of Month To Month Contracts Of Total Service Contracts

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Revenues From Leasing Arrangements, Captive Reinsurance Arrangements And Interest On Equipment Financed

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Revenues and Contract Costs - Additional Information (Details)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments \| segment			2
Revenues from leasing arrangements, captive reinsurance arrangements and interest on equipment financed	$ 785,000,000	$ 797,000,000	$ 1,600,000,000	$ 1,600,000,000
Contract description of timing			Contracts for wireless services are generally either month-to-month and cancellable at any time (typically under a device payment plan) or contain terms ranging from greater than one month to up to two years (typically under a fixed-term plan).
Amortization of deferred contract costs	767,000,000	639,000,000	$ 1,500,000,000	1,300,000,000
Contract assets impairment charge	0	0	0	0
Media Business
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Revenue from contract with customer	$ 1,400,000,000	$ 1,800,000,000	$ 3,100,000,000	$ 3,600,000,000
Wireless postpaid contracts
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of month-to-month contracts of total service contracts	89.00%	87.00%	89.00%	87.00%
Wireline Consumer and Small and Medium Business contracts
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Percentage of month-to-month contracts of total service contracts	67.00%	57.00%	67.00%	57.00%
Reseller Arrangements
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract description of timing			Reseller arrangements generally include a stated contract term, which typically extends longer than two years and, in some cases, include a periodic minimum revenue commitment over the contract term for which revenues will be recognized in future periods.
Consumer
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Customer contracts service term			2 years
Business
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Contract description of timing			These contracts have varying terms spanning over approximately five years
Maximum \| Business
Disaggregation of Revenue [Line Items]
Customer contracts service term			12 months