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Long-Term Debt - Textuals (Details)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
Long-Term Debt - Textuals (Details)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) days	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 22, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 13, 2015 USD ($)	May 08, 2015 USD ($)	Apr. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Aug. 12, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Jan. 13, 2012 USD ($)	Jun. 09, 2011 USD ($)	Mar. 04, 2011 USD ($)
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 11,009,000,000				$ 11,025,000,000				$ 11,009,000,000	$ 11,025,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	7.00%								7.00%
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price, Percentage									101.00%
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Amount									$ 0	333,000,000	$ 142,000,000
Debt Issuance Costs, Net	$ 11,000,000				50,000,000				11,000,000	50,000,000	49,000,000
Debt Instrument, Unamortized Debt Issuance Costs	112,000,000				128,000,000				112,000,000	128,000,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	$ 0	$ (40,000,000)	$ 0	(55,000,000)	$ 0	$ (163,000,000)	$ 0	$ (40,000,000)	(218,000,000)	$ (53,000,000)
Debt instrument, redemption period notice minimum (number of days) \| days									30
Debt instrument, redemption period notice maximum (number of days) \| days									60
Future contractual maturities of long-term debt and capital leases (excluding issue discounts, premiums and fair value adjustments)
2017	7,000,000								$ 7,000,000
2018	306,000,000								306,000,000
2019	822,000,000								822,000,000
2020	1,804,000,000								1,804,000,000
2021	650,000,000								650,000,000
Thereafter	7,420,000,000								7,420,000,000
Total Debt Obligations	11,009,000,000								11,009,000,000
2.0 Billion Tranche B-II 2022 Term Loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 2,000,000,000				2,000,000,000				$ 2,000,000,000	2,000,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	3.50%								3.50%
2.0 Billion Tranche B-II 2022 Term Loan [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount														$ 2,000,000,000
Upfront basis point		25
TrancheB2022TermLoanTotal [Member] \| Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 2,000,000,000								$ 2,000,000,000
Tranche B 2022 Term Loans
Long-term debt
Loss on extinguishment of debt			27,000,000
Tranche B 2022 Term Loans \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																		$ 2,000,000,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt									27,000,000
Tranche B 2022 Term Loans \| Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Long-term debt
Tranche B Term Loan 2022 upfront payment percentage																		0.75%
SeniorNotes6Point125PercentDue2021 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 640,000,000				640,000,000				$ 640,000,000	640,000,000
SeniorNotes6Point125PercentDue2021 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	6.125%								6.125%
Senior Notes 7 Percent Due 2020 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 0				775,000,000				$ 0	775,000,000
Senior Notes 7 Percent Due 2020 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	7.00%								7.00%
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price, Percentage		104.138%
TrancheB2020TermLoanTotal [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 1,796,000,000				1,796,000,000				$ 1,796,000,000	1,796,000,000
TrancheB2020TermLoanTotal [Member] \| Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross																				$ 1,796,000,000
Tranche B III 2019 and Tranche B 2020 Term Loans [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	4.00%								4.00%
TrancheBIII2019TermLoan [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 815,000,000				815,000,000				$ 815,000,000	815,000,000
TrancheBIII2019TermLoan [Member] \| Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																				$ 815,000,000
Floating Rate Senior Notes due 2018 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 300,000,000				$ 300,000,000				$ 300,000,000	$ 300,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	4.762%				4.101%				4.762%	4.101%
Senior Notes 11 Point 875 Percent Due 2019 [Member] \| Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	11.875%								11.875%
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price, Percentage					106.859%
Loss on extinguishment of debt					$ (53,000,000)
Senior Notes due 2019 (9.375%)
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	9.375%								9.375%
Loss on extinguishment of debt			(36,000,000)						$ (36,000,000)
Senior Notes due 2019 (9.375%) \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																								$ 500,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	9.375%								9.375%
Senior Notes 5point 625Percent Due 2023 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 500,000,000				500,000,000				$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000
Senior Notes 5point 625Percent Due 2023 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																$ 500,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.625%								5.625%
Senior Notes due 2019 (8.125%)
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	8.125%								8.125%
Loss on extinguishment of debt			(82,000,000)
Senior Notes due 2019 (8.125%) \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																							$ 1,200,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	8.125%								8.125%
Loss on extinguishment of debt									$ (82,000,000)
Senior Notes due 2019 (8.875%)
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	8.875%								8.875%
Loss on extinguishment of debt			$ (18,000,000)
Senior Notes due 2019 (8.875%) \| Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	8.875%								8.875%
Senior Notes due 2019 (8.875%) \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																					$ 300,000,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt									$ (18,000,000)
Senior Notes 5point 125Percent Due 2023 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 700,000,000				700,000,000				$ 700,000,000	700,000,000
Senior Notes 5point 125Percent Due 2023 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount															$ 700,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.125%								5.125%
Senior Notes 5point 375Percent Due 2025 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 800,000,000				800,000,000				$ 800,000,000	800,000,000
Senior Notes 5point 375Percent Due 2025 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount															$ 800,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.375%								5.375%
Senior Notes due 2020 (8.625%)
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	8.625%								8.625%
Loss on extinguishment of debt					(55,000,000)
Senior Notes due 2020 (8.625%) \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																						$ 900,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	8.625%								8.625%
Senior Notes due 2024 (5.375%) \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount													$ 900,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.375%								5.375%
Loss on extinguishment of debt									$ (55,000,000)
Senior Notes 5.375percent Due 2022 [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																			$ 1,000,000,000
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 1,000,000,000				1,000,000,000				$ 1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.375%								5.375%
Senior Notes 5.375percent Due 2022 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.375%								5.375%
Senior Notes 5.375percent Due 2022 [Member] \| Level 3 Escrow II, Inc. [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																			$ 1,000,000,000
Senior Notes 5point75Percent Due 2022 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 600,000,000				600,000,000				$ 600,000,000	600,000,000
Senior Notes 5point75Percent Due 2022 [Member] \| Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Long-term debt
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																	$ 600,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.75%								5.75%
Convertible Senior Notes 7 Percent Due 2015 [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 775,000,000				0				$ 775,000,000	0
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.25%								5.25%
Debt Conversion, Original Debt, Amount				333,000,000	142,000,000
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Amount				$ 1,000	$ 1,000
Debt conversion, shares issued upon conversion (in shares) \| shares				12,000,000	5,000,000
Conversion of Stock, Shares Converted \| shares				37	37
Convertible Senior Notes 7 Percent Due 2015 [Member] \| Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	7.00%								7.00%
Senior Notes 5point 250Percent Due 2026 [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross												$ 775,000,000
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	5.25%								5.25%
Convertible Senior Notes due 2015 Series B (7.0%) \| Level 3 Communications, Inc.
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	7.00%								7.00%
Capital Leases
Long-term debt
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 183,000,000				$ 199,000,000				$ 183,000,000	$ 199,000,000
Debt instrument, weighted average interest rate (as percent)	5.80%								5.80%
Future contractual maturities of long-term debt and capital leases (excluding issue discounts, premiums and fair value adjustments)
Total Debt Obligations	$ 183,000,000								$ 183,000,000
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| 2.0 Billion Tranche B-II 2022 Term Loan [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	2.75%								2.75%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| 2.0 Billion Tranche B-II 2022 Term Loan [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, Interest spread on debt (as percent)		2.75%
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis	LIBOR	LIBOR			LIBOR
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| 2.0 Billion Tranche B-II 2022 Term Loan [Member] \| Level 3 Financing [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)		0.75%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| Tranche B 2022 Term Loans \| Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, Interest spread on debt (as percent)					3.50%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| Tranche B 2022 Term Loans \| Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)																		1.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| TrancheB2020TermLoanTotal [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	3.00%								3.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| TrancheBIII2019TermLoan [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	3.00%								3.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] \| Floating Rate Senior Notes due 2018 [Member]
Long-term debt
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)	3.50%								3.50%