Restatement of Previously Issued Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements Restated condensed consolidated income statement (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions		3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2020		Sep. 30, 2019		Sep. 30, 2020		Sep. 30, 2019
Site Rental		$ 1,339		$ 1,287		$ 3,968		$ 3,793
Services and other		147		195		379		544
Net Revenues		1,486		1,482		4,347		4,337
Services and other	[1]	117		146	[2]	324		407	[2]
Costs and Expenses		1,052		1,059		3,166		3,157
Operating Income (Loss)		434		423		1,181		1,180
Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, before Tax				247				667
Net income (loss)		163		242	[3]	548		652	[3]
Net income (loss)						548		652
Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Stockholders, Basic		163		214		491		567
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent		$ 165		$ 242		$ 549		$ 652
Basic		$ 0.38		$ 0.51		$ 1.17		$ 1.36
Diluted		$ 0.38		$ 0.51		$ 1.17		$ 1.36
Site rental	[1]	$ 370		$ 369		$ 1,123		$ 1,095
Selling, general and administrative		154		150		493		457
Asset write-down charges		3		2		10		13
Acquisition and integration costs		2		4		9		10
Depreciation, amortization and accretion		406		388		1,207		1,175
Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs		168		173		521		510
Gain (Loss) on Extinguishment of Debt		(95)		0		(95)	[4]	(2)
Interest income		0		2		2		5
Other income (expense)		(3)		(5)		(3)		(6)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes		(5)		(5)		(16)		(15)
Dividends/distributions on preferred stock		0		28	[3],[5]	57	[5]	85	[3],[5]
Foreign currency translation adjustments		2		0		1		0
Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax		$ 2	[6]			$ 1	[6]	0
Previously Reported [Member]
Site Rental				1,260				3,718
Services and other				254				700
Net Revenues				1,514				4,418
Services and other	[2]			147				410
Costs and Expenses				1,061				3,161
Operating Income (Loss)				453				1,257
Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, before Tax				277				744
Net income (loss)				272				729
Net income (loss)								729
Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Stockholders, Basic				244				644
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent				$ 272				$ 729
Basic				$ 0.59				$ 1.55
Diluted				$ 0.58				$ 1.54
Depreciation, amortization and accretion				$ 389				$ 1,176
Revision of Prior Period, Adjustment [Member]
Site Rental				27				75
Services and other				(57)				(152)
Net Revenues				(30)				(77)
Services and other	[2]			0				0
Costs and Expenses				0				0
Operating Income (Loss)				(30)				(77)
Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, before Tax				(30)				(77)
Net income (loss)				(30)				(77)
Net income (loss)				(30)				(77)
Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Stockholders, Basic				(30)				(77)
Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax, Attributable to Parent				$ (30)				$ (77)
Basic				$ (0.08)				$ (0.19)
Diluted				$ (0.07)				$ (0.18)
Other Adjustment [Member]
Services and other				$ (2)				$ (4)
Net Revenues				(2)				(4)
Services and other	[2]			(1)				(3)
Costs and Expenses				(2)				(4)
Net income (loss)				0				0
Depreciation, amortization and accretion				$ (1)				$ (1)

[1] Exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion shown separately.

[2] Exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion shown separately.

[3] The individual components of this column do not sum to the total due to rounding.

[4] Inclusive of the write off of respective deferred financing costs.

[5] See note 8 for information regarding common and preferred stock dividends declared per share.

[6] See the condensed consolidated statement of operations and other comprehensive income (loss) for the components of other comprehensive income (loss).