Payments for acquisition settlement agreement.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Wireless spectrum licenses accelerated period to meet final build-out requirement on failure to meet interim build out requirement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Represents the minimum percentage of population in each area covered by an individual license to which the entity must provide terrestrial signal coverage and offer terrestrial service by the end of license term.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

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- Definition

Accumulated change in equity from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, net of tax effect, at period end. Excludes Net Income (Loss), and accumulated changes in equity from transactions resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. Includes foreign currency translation items, certain pension adjustments, unrealized gains and losses on certain investments in debt and equity securities, other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses related to factors other than credit losses on available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities that an entity does not intend to sell and it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell before recovery of the amortized cost basis, as well as changes in the fair value of derivatives related to the effective portion of a designated cash flow hedge.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 130

-Paragraph 14, 17, 26

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 220

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 11

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=20435746&loc=d3e637-108580

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 220

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 14A

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=20435746&loc=SL7669686-108580

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 220

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 14

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=20435746&loc=d3e681-108580

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 04

-Article 3

Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 31

-Article 5

Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher AICPA

-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)

-Number 12

-Paragraph 10

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name FASB Staff Position (FSP)

-Number FAS115-1/124-1

-Paragraph 15D

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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- Definition

Amount of cash paid to acquire the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141R

-Paragraph 68

-Subparagraph f(1)

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 51

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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- Definition

The total cost of the acquired entity including the cash paid to shareholders of acquired entities, fair value of debt and equity securities issued to shareholders of acquired entities, the fair value of the liabilities assumed, and direct costs of the acquisition.

+ References

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- Definition

The total purchase price of the acquired entity. This includes cash paid to equity interest holders of the acquired entity, fair value of debt and equity securities issued to equity holders of the acquired entity, and transaction costs paid to third parties to consummate the acquisition.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 51

-Subparagraph d

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 141

-Paragraph 35

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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- Definition

Amount represents the difference between the cash acquisition price of the debt and the net carrying amount of the debt at the time of its extinguishment (or deconsolidation of in-substance real estate when an entity defaults on its debt obligations).

+ References

No definition available.

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Acquisitions (Details 3) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
Acquisitions (Details 3) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Sprint Settlement Agreement	Mar. 09, 2012 TerreStar Networks, Inc. ("TerreStar") Wireless Spectrum	Dec. 31, 2012 DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions	Dec. 31, 2012 DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions Wireless Spectrum	Mar. 09, 2012 DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions Wireless Spectrum	Mar. 09, 2012 DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions Sprint Settlement Agreement Wireless Spectrum	Mar. 09, 2012 DBSD North America (ICO) Wireless Spectrum
Spectrum Investments
Purchase price					$ 1,382,000,000			$ 2,860,000,000	$ 114,000,000	$ 1,364,000,000
2 GHz Interim Build-out Requirement (as a percent)							40.00%
2 GHz Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)							70.00%
Accelerated period to meet Final Build-Out Requirement on failure to meet Interim Build-Out Requirement	1 year
Investment in DBSD North America				114,000,000
Net purchase price						2,859,648,000
Cash purchase price paid								2,761,000,000
Gain on conversion of senior secured notes							99,000,000
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	$ 188,803,000	$ 82,043,000	$ 93,357,000				$ 78,000,000