Basis of Presentation (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013 number	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Basis of Presentation
TDS ownership	85.00%
Number of business segments	5
Business segments, additional information	TDS’ business segments reflected in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2013, are U.S. Cellular, TDS Telecom’s incumbent local exchange carriers, (“ILEC”), its competitive local exchange carrier (“CLEC”), its Hosted and Managed Services (“HMS”) operations, and the Non-Reportable Segment which includes TDS’ majority-owned printing and distribution company, Suttle-Straus, Inc. (“Suttle-Straus”) and TDS’ wholly-owned wireless telephone subsidiary, Airadigm Communications, Inc. (“Airadigm”).
Agent liability	$ 63.9		$ 88.2
Amounts recorded gross in revenues that are billed to customers and remitted to governmental authorities	$ 36.1	$ 39.6