ACQUISITIONS - SCHEDULE OF PRELIMINARY ALLOCATION OF THE PURCHASE PRICE (Details) $ in Thousands, ₨ in Billions						6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 21, 2016 USD ($) site	Apr. 21, 2016 INR (₨) site	Dec. 16, 2015 USD ($) communications_site	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) communications_site	Apr. 29, 2015 USD ($) communications_site	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) site	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill						$ 4,981,919	$ 4,091,805
Customer Relationships
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life (in years)						20 years	20 years
Acquired Network Location
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible asset, useful life (in years)						20 years	20 years
Viom Transaction
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill						$ 856,100
Debt assumed	$ (800,000)	₨ (52.3)
Number of communications sites acquired (in number of towers) | site	42,000	42,000
Viom Transaction | Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Current assets						283,854
Non-current assets						45,962
Property and equipment						765,127
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross						1,364,466
Finite Lived Network Intangible Gross						639,438
Current liabilities						(180,734)
Deferred tax liability						(635,529)
Other non-current liabilities						(105,458)
Net assets acquired						2,177,126
Goodwill						856,110
Fair value of net assets acquired						3,033,236
Debt assumed						(786,889)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests						(1,097,841)
Purchase Price	$ 1,100,000	₨ 76.4				$ 1,148,506
Other Acquisition 2016
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of communications sites acquired (in number of towers) | site						433
Other Acquisition 2016 | Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Current assets						$ 6,050
Non-current assets						0
Property and equipment						24,251
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross						36,314
Finite Lived Network Intangible Gross						8,928
Current liabilities						(55)
Deferred tax liability						0
Other non-current liabilities						(3,833)
Net assets acquired						71,655
Goodwill						8,104
Fair value of net assets acquired						79,759
Debt assumed						0
Redeemable noncontrolling interests						0
Purchase Price						79,759
TIM Acquisition
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of communications sites acquired (in number of towers) | communications_site			182	1,125	4,176
TIM Acquisition | Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Current assets							$ 0
Non-current assets							0
Property and equipment							275,630
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross							361,822
Finite Lived Network Intangible Gross							115,562
Current liabilities							(3,192)
Deferred tax liability							0
Other non-current liabilities							(74,966)
Net assets acquired							674,856
Goodwill							122,011
Fair value of net assets acquired							796,867
Debt assumed							0
Purchase Price			$ 21,700	$ 130,900	$ 644,300		$ 796,867
TIM Acquisition | Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Current assets						0
Non-current assets						0
Property and equipment						275,570
Finite-Lived Customer Relationships, Gross						361,048
Finite Lived Network Intangible Gross						115,577
Current liabilities						(3,192)
Deferred tax liability						0
Other non-current liabilities						(74,966)
Net assets acquired						674,037
Goodwill						122,011
Fair value of net assets acquired						796,048
Debt assumed						0
Purchase Price						$ 796,048