Long-Term Debt, Financing and Capital Lease Obligations (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 site years	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 site years	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Letter Of Credit Required By The FCCs Report And Order [Member]	Aug. 14, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] Sprint Nextel Corporation Senior Notes [Member]	Mar. 01, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] Sprint Nextel Corporation Senior Notes [Member]	Aug. 24, 2012 Serial Redeemable Senior Notes [Member] Nextel Communications Inc Serial Redeemable 7.375% Senior Notes [Member]	Aug. 24, 2012 Serial Redeemable Senior Notes [Member] Nextel Communications Inc Serial Redeemable 6.875% Senior Notes [Member]	Jun. 09, 2012 Serial Redeemable Senior Notes [Member] Nextel Communications Inc Serial Redeemable 6.875% Senior Notes [Member]	Jun. 08, 2012 Serial Redeemable Senior Notes [Member] Nextel Communications Inc Serial Redeemable 6.875% Senior Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Line of Credit [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Line of Credit [Member] Secured Equipment Credit Facility [Member]	May 29, 2012 Line of Credit [Member] Secured Equipment Credit Facility [Member] terms	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit [Member] Secured Equipment Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Letter of Credit [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2013 [Member]	Mar. 01, 2012 Guaranteed notes [Member] Sprint Nextel Corporation Guaranteed Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2013 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2013 [Member]	May 21, 2010 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2013 [Member]
Schedule of Capitalization, Long-term Debt [Line Items]
Principal of debt outstanding, including the credit facilities	$ 11,500,000,000		$ 11,500,000,000
Long-term debt issued by subsidiaries and is guaranteed by the parent	9,000,000,000		9,000,000,000
Long-term debt fully and unconditionally guaranteed	6,800,000,000		6,800,000,000
Interest Costs Capitalized	52,000,000	103,000,000	269,000,000	304,000,000
Cash interest payments			912,000,000	804,000,000
Redeemable notes	19,800,000,000		19,800,000,000
Principal amount of notes with the right to require the Company to repurchase on change of control	8,800,000,000		8,800,000,000
Percentage of principal amount required to repurchase notes on change of control	101.00%		101.00%
Debt Instrument, Face Amount						1,500,000,000	1,000,000,000	2,100,000,000			1,473,000,000						1,000,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage						7.00%	9.125%	7.375%	6.875%								7.00%
Extinguishment of Debt, Amount								1,000,000,000	473,000,000	1,000,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity														1,000,000,000						2,200,000,000
Long-term Debt, Percentage Bearing Fixed Interest, Percentage Rate														2.03%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Effective Percentage														6.00%
Number of tranches														2
Line of credit, maximum drawdown during each tranche														500,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding												577,000,000	77,000,000		0			0	0
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount					884,000,000											1,000,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity													$ 423,000,000					$ 1,200,000,000
Number of cell sites leased back	3,000		3,000
Term in years for cell sites leased back renewal options	20		20
Ratio of total indebtedness to adjusted EBITDA	2.5		2.5