Long-Term Debt, Financing and Capital Lease Obligations (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			4 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013 site years	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 site years	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 Convertible Debt [Member] Sprint Nextel Corporation [Member]	May 01, 2013 Secured Debt [Member] iPCS Inc Secured Notes [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] Sprint Nextel Corporation Senior Notes [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Line of Credit [Member] Secured Equipment Credit Facility [Member]	May 29, 2012 Line of Credit [Member] Secured Equipment Credit Facility [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2018 [Member]	Apr. 02, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2018 [Member]	Feb. 28, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2018 [Member]	May 21, 2010 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2013 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Letter of Credit [Member] Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility expires in 2018 [Member]	Oct. 22, 2012 Sprint Nextel [Member]
Schedule of Capitalization, Long-term Debt [Line Items]
Principal of debt outstanding, including the credit facilities	$ 16,900,000,000		$ 16,900,000,000
Long-term debt issued by 100% owned subsidiary and is fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the parent	6,800,000,000		6,800,000,000
Interest Costs Capitalized	13,000,000	102,000,000	28,000,000	217,000,000
Cash interest payments			808,000,000	573,000,000
Redeemable notes	19,500,000,000		19,500,000,000
Principal amount of notes with the right to require the Company to repurchase on change of control	11,100,000,000		11,100,000,000		3,100,000,000
Percentage of principal amount required to repurchase notes on change of control	101.00%		101.00%
Repayments of Long-term Debt						300,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity											3,000,000,000	2,800,000,000	2,200,000,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount														913,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity										2,100,000,000
Line of Credit, Amount Withdrew								500,000,000
Debt Instrument, Annual Principal Payment								55,000,000
Line of credit, maximum drawdown during each tranche									500,000,000
Long-term Debt, Percentage Bearing Fixed Interest, Percentage Rate								2.03%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Effective Percentage									6.00%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage					1.00%		9.25%								1.00%
Principal amount outstanding of notes which limits the ability of the parent to incur additional debt							200,000,000
Convertible Debt															$ 3,100,000,000
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