Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 item	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 CenturyLink Acquisition of Qwest	Apr. 02, 2011 CenturyLink Acquisition of Qwest	Sep. 30, 2012 Customer relationships	Dec. 31, 2011 Customer relationships	Sep. 30, 2012 Capitalized software	Dec. 31, 2011 Capitalized software	Sep. 30, 2012 Capitalized software Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Tradename and patent	Dec. 31, 2011 Tradename and patent	Sep. 30, 2012 Other intangible assets	Mar. 31, 2011 Predecessor
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill	$ 10,123			$ 10,123	$ 10,123
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
Customer relationships, net	6,059			6,059	6,788			6,059	6,788
Total other intangible assets, net	1,355			1,355	1,587					1,277	1,460		78	127
Accumulated amortization amount								1,499	770	644	354		110	61
Other intangible assets subject to amortization
Estimated life								10 years				7 years			4 years
Estimated amortization expense for intangible assets
Three months ending December 31, 2012	346			346
Year ending 2013	1,276			1,276
Year ending 2014	1,161			1,161
Year ending 2015	1,028			1,028
Year ending 2016	911			911
Goodwill recognized on acquisition						10,123	10,123
Number of reportable units	1			1
Number of years considered as discrete projection period	9 years
Discrete projection period				8 years
Weighted average cost of capital as of the measurement date, used as a discount rate (as a percent)	6.00%
After-tax cost component of weighted average cost of capital, cost of debt (as a percent)	3.20%
Cost of debt component of weighted average cost of capital, cost of equity (as a percent)	8.40%
Amortization expense	$ 347	$ 395	$ 794	$ 1,074												$ 58