Acquisitions (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 years	Jun. 30, 2012 years		Jun. 30, 2011
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Share-based Compensation		$ 17,105,000		$ 17,254,000
Net revenues		1,172,450,000		1,061,257,000
Current assets	74,246,000	74,246,000
Property and equipment	515,984,000	515,984,000
Goodwill	682,148,000	682,148,000
Other intangible assets, net	195,000,000	195,000,000
Current liabilities	(86,433,000)	(86,433,000)
Below-market tenant leases and other non-current liabilities	(330,045,000)	(330,045,000)
Deferred income tax liabilities	(57,433,000)	(57,433,000)
Net assets acquired	997,718,000	997,718,000
Business acqusition, purchase price allocation, non-current assets, prepaid rent	4,251,000	4,251,000
Average amortization period, long-term prepaid rent	19.5	23.0
Net income (loss)		101,989,000	[1]	57,918,000
Basic net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders, after deduction of dividends on preferred stock, per common share				$ 0.17
Diluted net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders, after deduction of dividends on preferred stock, per common share				$ 0.16
Wireless Capital Partners, LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill	54,800,000	54,800,000
Business acquisitions, purchase price allocation, current assets, restricted cash	39,200,000	39,200,000
Ground lease related assets	2,300	2,300
Business acquisition, purchase price allocation, non-current liabilities, long-term debt assumed	336,300,000	336,300,000
Business acquisition, cost of acquired entity, purchase price	214,700,000	214,700,000
NextG Networks Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Share-based Compensation				46,300,000
Severance Costs		3,400,000
Goodwill	682,100,000	682,100,000
Business acquisition, cost of acquired entity, cash paid	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
Business acquisition, cost of acquired entity, purchase price	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
Percentage of Total Nodes	75.00%	75.00%
Other incremental acquisition costs		3,300,000
Business Combination, Integration Related Costs				15,700,000
Long-term prepaid rent [Member] | Wireless Capital Partners, LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acqusition, purchase price allocation, non-current assets, prepaid rent	322,400,000	322,400,000
Average amortization period, long-term prepaid rent		38
Pro forma adjustment for reclassification of valuation allowance [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition, pro forma adjustment		$ 57,400,000		$ (57,400,000)

[1] Inclusive of $46.3 million in NextG stock-based compensation charges and $15.7 million in acquisition and integration costs.