Acquisition by CenturyLink (Details) (CenturyLink, USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquisition of Qwest	Sep. 30, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest	Sep. 30, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquisition of Qwest	Apr. 02, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest	Apr. 02, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Customer relationships	Apr. 02, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Capitalized software	Apr. 02, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Other intangibles	Apr. 30, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Restrospective adjustments Change in purchase price allocation item	Apr. 02, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Restrospective adjustments Change in purchase price allocation	Apr. 02, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Restrospective adjustments Customer relationships Change in purchase price allocation	Mar. 31, 2011 Acquisition of Qwest Predecessor
Acquisition by CenturyLink
Number of CenturyLink shares that shareholders received for each share of common stock owned							0.1664
Number of shares of common stock issued to consummate acquisition		294,000,000
Closing stock price used to value shares issued for acquisition (in dollars per share)	$ 41.55
Estimated net value of pre-combination portion of share-based compensation awards assumed by acquiring entity							$ 52
Cash payments							5
Assignment of the aggregate consideration
Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets							2,121
Property, plant and equipment							9,529					(25)
Identifiable intangible assets								7,558	1,702	189			(67)
Other noncurrent assets							390
Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt							(2,463)
Current maturities of long-term debt							(2,422)					(35)
Long-term debt							(10,253)
Deferred credits and other liabilities							(4,201)					100
Number of lease valuations for which revisions were made											1
Goodwill			10,123			10,123	10,123					17
Aggregate consideration							12,273
Fair value assigned to accounts receivable							1,194
Accounts receivable gross contractual value							1,274
Best estimate of contractual cash flows that would not be collected							80
Expenses related to acquisition
Acquisition related expenses			$ 10	$ 19	$ 146	$ 39								$ 3