Subsequent Events (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 U.S. Cellular	Mar. 31, 2012 U.S. Cellular	Mar. 31, 2013 U.S. Cellular St. Lawrence Seaway RSA Cellular Partnership and New York RSA 2 Cellular Partnership	Apr. 03, 2013 U.S. Cellular Subsequent event St. Lawrence Seaway RSA Cellular Partnership	Apr. 03, 2013 U.S. Cellular Subsequent event New York RSA 2 Cellular Partnership	Apr. 03, 2013 U.S. Cellular Subsequent event St. Lawrence Seaway RSA Cellular Partnership and New York RSA 2 Cellular Partnership	Apr. 03, 2013 U.S. Cellular Subsequent event St. Lawrence Seaway RSA Cellular Partnership and New York RSA 2 Cellular Partnership Minimum	Apr. 03, 2013 U.S. Cellular Subsequent event St. Lawrence Seaway RSA Cellular Partnership and New York RSA 2 Cellular Partnership Maximum
Subsequent events
Deconsolidation description									On April 3, 2013, U.S. Cellular entered into an agreement relating to the Partnerships (as defined below) with Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (“Verizon Wireless”). U.S. Cellular holds a 60.00% interest in St. Lawrence Seaway RSA Cellular Partnership (“NY1”) and a 57.14% interest in New York RSA 2 Cellular Partnership (“NY2” and, together with NY1, the “Partnerships”). The remaining interests are held by Verizon Wireless. The Partnerships are operated by Verizon Wireless under the Verizon Wireless brand. Because U.S. Cellular owns a greater than 50% interest in each of these markets and based on U.S. Cellular’s rights under the Partnership Agreements, prior to April 3, 2013, TDS consolidated the financial results of these markets in accordance with GAAP. The agreement amends the Partnership Agreements in several ways, which provide Verizon Wireless with substantive participating rights that allow Verizon Wireless to make decisions that are in the ordinary course of business of the Partnerships and which are significant to directing and executing the activities of the business. Accordingly, as required by GAAP, effective April 3, 2013, TDS will deconsolidate the Partnerships and thereafter will report them as equity method investments in its consolidated financial statements (the “Deconsolidation”). After the Deconsolidation, TDS will continue to record only its share of the net income of the Partnerships in Net income attributable to TDS shareholders. In accordance with GAAP, TDS will recognize a non-cash pre-tax gain in the range of $12 million to $28 million in the second quarter of 2013.
Ownership interest in equity method investment							60.00%	57.14%
Deconsolidation gain										$ 12,000,000	$ 28,000,000
Total assets	8,501,823,000	8,172,668,000	8,623,900,000	6,523,635,000	6,341,435,000	117,142,000
Total liabilities						10,847,000
Operating revenues	1,308,573,000	1,305,791,000		1,081,746,000	1,092,121,000	43,302,000
Total operating expenses	1,301,419,000	1,212,149,000				31,690,000
Net income	6,989,000	67,566,000				11,619,000
Net income attributable to TDS shareholders	$ 1,419,000	$ 52,254,000				$ 6,824,000