Debt and Other Obligations (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Debt and Other Obligations [Abstract]

Schedule of Long-Term Debt Instruments

	Original Issue Date	Contractual Maturity Date (a)		Balance as of June 30, 2016(f)			Balance as of December 31, 2015(f)		Stated Interest Rate as of June 30, 2016(a)
Bank debt - variable rate:
2016 Revolver	Jan. 2016	Jan. 2021		$	435,000	(b)	$	—	1.8	%
2016 Term Loan A	Jan. 2016	Jan. 2021		1,978,041		(b)	—		1.9	%
2012 Revolver	Jan. 2012	Jan. 2019		—		(b)	1,125,000		N/A
Tranche A Term Loans	Jan. 2012	Jan. 2019		—		(b)	627,846		N/A
Tranche B Term Loans	Jan. 2012	Jan. 2021		—		(b)	2,219,602		N/A
Total bank debt				2,413,041			3,972,448
Securitized debt - fixed rate:
Secured Notes, Series 2009-1	July 2009	Aug. 2019		60,824			70,219		6.3	%
Secured Notes, Series 2009-2	July 2009	Aug. 2029		68,698			68,658		9.0	%
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-2	Jan. 2010	Jan. 2037	(e)	—			349,171		N/A
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-3	Jan. 2010	Jan. 2040	(c)	1,243,302			1,242,368		6.1	%
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-5	Aug. 2010	Aug. 2037	(e)	—			298,774		N/A
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-6	Aug. 2010	Aug. 2040	(c)	992,648			991,749		4.9	%
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2015-1	May 2015	May 2042	(c)	296,254			295,937		3.2	%
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2015-2	May 2015	May 2045	(c)	690,764			690,247		3.7	%
Total securitized debt				3,352,490			4,007,123
Bonds - fixed rate:
5.250% Senior Notes	Oct. 2012	Jan. 2023		1,636,044			1,634,989		5.3	%
2.381% Secured Notes	Dec. 2012	Dec. 2017		497,882			497,160		2.4	%
3.849% Secured Notes	Dec. 2012	Apr. 2023		990,587			989,895		3.9	%
4.875% Senior Notes	Apr. 2014	Apr. 2022		839,448			838,579		4.9	%
3.400% Senior Notes	Feb./May 2016	Feb. 2021		849,574		(d)(e)	—		3.4	%
4.450% Senior Notes	Feb. 2016	Feb. 2026		889,631		(d)	—		4.5	%
3.700% Senior Notes	May 2016	June 2026		741,314		(e)	—		3.7	%
Total bonds				6,444,480			3,960,623
Other:
Capital leases and other obligations	Various	Various		216,193			209,765		Various
Total debt and other obligations				12,426,204			12,149,959
Less: current maturities and short-term debt and other current obligations				100,345			106,219
Non-current portion of long-term debt and other long-term obligations				$	12,325,859		$	12,043,740

(a) See the 2015 Form 10-K, including note 8, for additional information regarding the maturity and principal amortization provisions and interest rates relating to the Company's indebtedness.

(b) In January 2016, the Company completed a Senior Unsecured Credit Facility ("2016 Credit Facility"), comprised of (1) a $2.5 billion Senior Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility ("2016 Revolver") maturing in January 2021, (2) a $2.0 billion Senior Unsecured Term Loan A Facility ("2016 Term Loan A") maturing in January 2021 and (3) a previously outstanding $1.0 billion Senior Unsecured 364-Day Revolving Credit Facility ("364-Day Facility") maturing in January 2017.  The 2016 Credit Facility bears interest at a per annum rate equal to LIBOR plus 1.125% to 2.000%, based on the Company's senior unsecured debt rating. The Company used the net proceeds from the 2016 Credit Facility (1) to repay the previously outstanding 2012 Credit Facility and (2) for general corporate purposes. In February 2016, the Company used a portion of the net proceeds from the 2016 Senior Notes offering to repay in full all outstanding borrowings under the previously outstanding 364-Day Facility. As of June 30, 2016, the undrawn availability under the 2016 Revolver was $2.1 billion.

(c) If the respective series of such debt is not paid in full on or prior to an applicable date 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 additional interest (of an additional approximately 5% per annum) will accrue on the respective series. See the 2015 Form 10-K for additional information regarding these provisions.

(d) In February 2016, the Company issued $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes ("2016 Senior Notes"), which consist of (1) $600.0 million aggregated principal amount of 3.40% senior notes with a final maturity date of February 2021 and (2) $900.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.45% senior notes with a final maturity date of February 2026. The Company used net proceeds from the 2016 Senior Notes offering, together with cash on hand, to (1) repay in full all outstanding borrowings under the previously outstanding 364-Day Facility and (2) repay $500.0 million of outstanding borrowings under the 2016 Revolver.

(e) In May 2016, the Company issued $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes ("May 2016 Senior Notes"), which consist of (1) $250.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.40% senior notes that were issued pursuant to the same indenture as the 3.40% senior notes of the 2016 Senior Notes with a final maturity date of February 2021 and (2) $750.0 million aggregate principal amount of 3.70% senior notes with a final maturity date of June 2026. The Company used net proceeds from the May 2016 Senior Notes offering to repay in full the Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-2 and Series 2010-5, each issued by certain of its subsidiaries, and to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the 2016 Revolver.

(f) Balances reflect debt issuance costs as a direct reduction from the respective carrying amounts of debt, with the exception of debt issuance costs associated with the Company's revolving credit facilities. See note 2.

Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt

Contractual Maturities

The following are the scheduled contractual maturities of the total debt and other long-term obligations of the Company outstanding as of June 30, 2016. These maturities reflect contractual maturity dates and do not consider the principal payments that will commence following the anticipated repayment dates on the Tower Revenue Notes.

	Six Months Ending December 31,		Years Ending December 31,												Unamortized Adjustments, Net			Total Debt and Other Obligations Outstanding
	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020		Thereafter		Total Cash Obligations
Scheduled contractual maturities	$	49,938	$	599,019	$	133,080	$	137,058	$	200,788	$	11,400,756	$	12,520,639	$	(94,435	)	$	12,426,204

Extinguishment of Debt [Line Items]

Schedule of Extinguishment of Debt [Table Text Block]

Purchases and Redemptions of Long-Term Debt

The following is a summary of purchases and redemptions of long-term debt during the six months ended June 30, 2016.

	Six Months Ended June 30, 2016
	Principal Amount		Cash Paid(a)		Gains (Losses)(b)
2012 Revolver (c)	$	—	$	—	$	(1,930	)
Tranche A Term Loans	629,375		629,375		(1,498		)
Tranche B Term Loans	2,247,015		2,247,015		(27,122		)
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-2	350,000		352,796		(3,338		)
Tower Revenue Notes, Series 2010-5	300,000		307,176		(8,129		)
Total	$	3,526,390	$	3,536,362	$	(42,017	)

(a) Exclusive of accrued interest.

(b) Inclusive of $32.0 million related to the write off of deferred financing costs.

Components of Interest Expense and Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs

Interest Expense and Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs

The components of interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs are as follows:

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2016			2015			2016			2015
Interest expense on debt obligations	$	125,580		$	122,398		$	247,747		$	245,101
Amortization of deferred financing costs and adjustments on long-term debt	4,815			5,173			9,921			9,911
Amortization of interest rate swaps(a)	—			7,490			—			14,981
Other, net of capitalized interest	(1,033		)	(595		)	(1,928		)	(1,088		)
Total	$	129,362		$	134,466		$	255,740		$	268,905

(a) Amounts reclassified from "accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)."