Debt and Other Obligations (Indebtedness) (Details) (USD $)														12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2012 WCP Securitized Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Variable Rate Revolver [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 9 Percent Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 9 Percent Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.75% Secured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.75% Secured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.125% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.125% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Capital Lease Obligations and Other [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Capital Lease Obligations and Other [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 2012 Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bank Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Bank Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bank Debt [Member] Variable Rate Revolver [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Bank Debt [Member] Variable Rate Revolver [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bank Debt [Member] 2012 Revolver [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Bank Debt [Member] 2012 Revolver [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bank Debt [Member] Variable Rate 2007 Term Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Bank Debt [Member] Variable Rate 2007 Term Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Bank Debt [Member] Variable Rate 2012 Term Loans [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Bank Debt [Member] Variable Rate 2012 Term Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Securitized Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Securitized Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Securitized Debt [Member] WCP Securitized Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Securitized Debt [Member] WCP Securitized Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Securitized Debt [Member] Fixed Rate Securitized Debt January 2010 Tower Revenue Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Securitized Debt [Member] Fixed Rate Securitized Debt January 2010 Tower Revenue Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Securitized Debt [Member] Fixed Rate Securitized Debt August 2010 Tower Revenue Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Securitized Debt [Member] Fixed Rate Securitized Debt August 2010 Tower Revenue Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Securitized Debt [Member] Fixed Rate Debt 2009 Securitized Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Securitized Debt [Member] Fixed Rate Debt 2009 Securitized Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 9 Percent Senior Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 9 Percent Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.75% Secured Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.75% Secured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.125% Senior Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate - High Yield Bonds, 7.125% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 7.5% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member] Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 7.5% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] Five and One Fourth Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member] Five and One Fourth Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] 2012 Secured Notes [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 High Yield Bonds [Member] 2012 Secured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] 2012 Secured Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 High Yield Bonds [Member] 2012 secured notes tranche A [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Principal [Member] Fixed Rate High Yield Bonds 9 Percent Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Unamortized Premium																																	$ 11,700,000
Tender Offer Amount																																																																	1,000
Cash and cash equivalents	441,364,000		80,120,000	112,531,000	766,146,000
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity							1,500,000,000
Effective yield rate, inclusive of purchase price adjustments						4.00%		11.30%		8.20%		7.20%
Original issue date																				Jan. 01, 2007			Jan. 01, 2012			Jan. 01, 2007		Jan. 01, 2012					Nov. 01, 2010			Jan. 01, 2010			Aug. 01, 2010			Jul. 01, 2009					Jan. 01, 2009			Apr. 01, 2009			Oct. 01, 2009			Dec. 01, 2003		Oct. 01, 2012		Dec. 01, 2012
Contractual maturity date														Various	[1]					Sept. 2013			Jan. 2017			March 2014		2017/2019					Nov. 2040			2035-2040			2035-2040			2019/2029					Jan. 2015			May 2017			Nov. 2019			Dec. 2013		Jan. 2023		2017/2023	[2]
Total debt and other obligations	11,611,242,000		6,885,699,000											92,568,000		54,406,000		3,318,250,000	870,125,000	0	[3]	251,000,000	1,253,000,000	[3]	0	0	619,125,000	2,065,250,000		0	3,956,202,000	3,666,431,000	307,739,000		0	1,900,000,000		1,900,000,000	1,550,000,000		1,550,000,000	198,463,000		216,431,000	4,244,222,000	2,294,737,000	304,718,000		817,799,000	291,394,000		978,983,000	498,110,000		497,904,000	0	51,000	1,650,000,000	0	1,500,000,000		0	1,000,000,000	500,000,000
Less: current maturities and short-term debt and other current obligations	688,056,000	[4]	32,517,000
Non-current portion of long-term debt and other long-term obligations	$ 10,923,186,000		$ 6,853,182,000
Stated interest rate									9.00%		7.75%		7.125%										2.70%	[5],[6]				3.70%	[5],[6]				5.40%	[7],[8]		5.70%	[5],[9]		4.50%	[5],[9]		7.00%	[5]				9.00%	[10],[5]		7.80%	[11],[5]		7.10%	[12],[5]				5.30%		3.40%
Percentage of debt instrument interest rate stated														Various
Line of Credit Facility, Commitment Fee Percentage																	0.40%

[1] The Company's capital leases and other obligations bear interest rates ranging up to 10% and mature in periods ranging from less than one year to approximately 20 years.

[2] The Company issued $500 million aggregate principal amount of 2.381% secured notes due 2017 and $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.849% secured notes due 2023 (collectively, "2012 Secured Notes").

[3] As of December 31, 2012, the undrawn availability under the $1.5 billion senior secured revolving credit facility ("2012 Revolver") is $247.0 million.

[4] Inclusive of the 9% senior notes ("9% Senior Notes") and the 7.75% secured notes ("7.75% Secured Notes") whose repurchase and redemption was completed in January 2013. See note 20.

[5] Represents the weighted-average stated interest rate.

[6] The 2012 Revolver and Term Loan A bear interest at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR plus a credit spread ranging from 2.0% to 2.75%, based on the CCOC total net leverage ratio. Term Loan B bears interest at a rate per annum equal to LIBOR plus 3.0% (with LIBOR subject to a floor of 1% per annum). The Company pays a commitment fee of approximately 0.4% per annum on the undrawn available amount under the 2012 Revolver.

[7] The WCP securitized notes ("WCP Securitized Notes") were assumed in connection with the WCP Acquisition. The WCP Securitized Notes include a fair value adjustment that increased the debt carrying value by $11.7 million as of December 31, 2012. The anticipated repayment date is 2015 for each class. If the WCP Securitized Notes are not repaid in full by their anticipated repayment dates, the applicable interest rate increases by an additional approximately 5% per annum. If the WCP Securitized Notes are not repaid in full by their rapid amortization date of 2017, monthly principal payments commence using the excess cash flows of the issuers of the WCP Securitized Notes.

[8] The effective yield is approximately 4.0%, inclusive of the fair value adjustment.

[9] If the respective series of the January 2010 Tower Revenue Notes and August 2010 Tower Revenue Notes (collectively, "2010 Tower Revenue Notes") are not paid in full on or prior to 2015, 2017 and 2020, as applicable, then Excess Cash Flow (as defined in the indenture) of the issuers (of such notes) will be used to repay principal of the applicable series and class of the 2010 Tower Revenue Notes, and additional interest (of an additional approximately 5% per annum) will accrue on the respective 2010 Tower Revenue Notes. The January 2010 Tower Revenue Notes consist of three series of notes with principal amounts of $300.0 million, $350.0 million and $1.3 billion, having anticipated repayment dates in 2015, 2017 and 2020, respectively. The August 2010 Tower Revenue Notes consist of three series of notes with principal amounts of $250.0 million, $300.0 million and $1.0 billion, having anticipated repayment dates in 2015, 2017 and 2020, respectively.

[10] The effective yield is approximately 11.3%, inclusive of the discount.

[11] The effective yield is approximately 8.2%, inclusive of the discount.

[12] The effective yield is approximately 7.2%, inclusive of the discount.