Document And Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 shares
Entity Registrant Name	TELEPHONE & DATA SYSTEMS INC /DE/
Entity Central Index Key	0001051512
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2016
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	TDS
Common Shares
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	102,720,328
Series A Common Shares
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	7,222,450