Related Parties (Details) (TDS, USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
TDS
Related Party Transactions
Description of related transaction	U.S. Cellular is billed for all services it receives from TDS, pursuant to the terms of various agreements between it and TDS. These billings are included in U.S. Cellular's Selling, general and administrative expenses. Some of these agreements were established at a time prior to U.S. Cellular's initial public offering when TDS owned more than 90% of U.S. Cellular's outstanding capital stock and may not reflect terms that would be obtainable from an unrelated third party through arms-length negotiations. Billings from TDS to U.S. Cellular are based on expenses specifically identified to U.S. Cellular and on allocations of common expenses. Such allocations are based on the relationship of U.S. Cellular's assets, employees, investment in property, plant and equipment and expenses relative to all subsidiaries in the TDS consolidated group. Management believes the method TDS uses to allocate common expenses is reasonable and that all expenses and costs applicable to U.S. Cellular are reflected in its financial statements.
Billings to U.S. Cellular from TDS	$ 99.2	$ 104.3	$ 104.1