Commitments and Contingencies, purchase commitments (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
BOSS Installation
Long-term Purchase Commitment
Purchase commitment agreement description	As previously disclosed, on August 17, 2010, U.S. Cellular and Amdocs Software Systems Limited (“Amdocs”) entered into a Software License and Maintenance Agreement (“SLMA”) and a Master Service Agreement (“MSA”) (collectively, the “Amdocs Agreements”) to develop a Billing and Operational Support System (“B/OSS”).  In July 2013, U.S. Cellular implemented B/OSS, pursuant to an updated Statement of Work dated June 29, 2012. Total payments to Amdocs related to this implementation are estimated to be approximately $183.5 million (subject to certain potential adjustments) over the period from commencement of the SLMA through the first half of 2014. As of September 30, 2013, $133.3 million had been paid to Amdocs.
Purchase commitment required payments	$ 183,500,000
Purchase commitment required payments made	133,300,000
Apple Products
Long-term Purchase Commitment
Purchase commitment agreement description	In March 2013, U.S. Cellular entered into an agreement with Apple to purchase an estimated $1.2 billion of Apple iPhone products over a three-year period beginning in November 2013.
Purchase commitment period	three-year period beginning in November 2013
Purchase commitment estimated payments	$ 1,200,000,000