Acquisitions (Narrative) (Details)	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended							0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended														12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Nov. 24, 2014 Airtel Acquisition USD ($) sites	Nov. 19, 2014 BR Towers USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 BR Towers USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 BR Towers USD ($)	Nov. 19, 2014 BR Towers propertyinterests towers	Oct. 01, 2013 MIPT Acquisition USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 MIPT Acquisition USD ($)	Oct. 01, 2013 MIPT Acquisition Domestic sites	Oct. 01, 2013 MIPT Acquisition Total international sites	Dec. 31, 2014 MIPT Acquisition Panama (2) USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2013 Axtel Mexico Acquisition USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2013 Axtel Mexico Acquisition sites	Dec. 06, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil USD ($)	Aug. 08, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil sites	Jun. 30, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil sites	Dec. 06, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil sites	Nov. 08, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico USD ($)	Aug. 08, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico sites	Dec. 31, 2014 NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico USD ($)	Nov. 08, 2013 NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico USD ($) sites	Nov. 21, 2014 TIM Acquisition Brazil USD ($)	Nov. 21, 2014 TIM Acquisition Brazil BRL	Nov. 21, 2014 TIM Acquisition Brazil BRL	Nov. 29, 2013 Z-Sites Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Z-Sites Acquisition USD ($)	Nov. 29, 2013 Z-Sites Acquisition sites	Dec. 31, 2013 Other International Acquisition USD ($) sites	Dec. 31, 2013 Other U.S. Acquisition 2013 USD ($) propertyinterests sites	Dec. 31, 2014 Ghana Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Colombia Movil Acquisition USD ($)	Apr. 03, 2014 Richland Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Richland Acquisition USD ($)	Apr. 03, 2014 Richland Acquisition USD ($) propertyinterests sites	Dec. 31, 2014 Other International Acquisitions 2014 USD ($) sites		Dec. 31, 2014 Other International Acquisitions 2014 Brazil, Ghana, Mexico, Uganda [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Other International Acquisitions 2014 Mexico USD ($) sites	Dec. 31, 2014 Other US Acquisition 2014 USD ($) propertyinterests sites	Dec. 31, 2014 GTP Notes Secured Debt USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 Secured Debt GTP Notes USD ($)	Nov. 21, 2014 First portfolio TIM Acquisition towers	Nov. 21, 2014 Second portfolio TIM Acquisition towers	Dec. 31, 2014 2014 acquisitions [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 2013 Acquisitions [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 2012 Acquisitions [Member] USD ($)	Nov. 19, 2014 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation BR Towers USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation BR Towers USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation MIPT Acquisition USD ($)		Oct. 01, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation MIPT Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Axtel Mexico Acquisition USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico USD ($)		Nov. 08, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Z-Sites Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Other International Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Other U.S. Acquisition 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Richland Acquisition USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Other International Acquisitions 2014 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation Other US Acquisition 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation MIPT Acquisition USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation Axtel Mexico Acquisition USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation NII Holdings Acquisition Brazil USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation NII Holdings Acquisition Mexico USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation Z-Sites Acquisition USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation Other International Acquisition USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 Adjusted Purchase Price Allocation Other U.S. Acquisition 2013 USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business combination, pro forma information, revenue of acquiree since acquisition date, actual																																																		$ 47,000,000
Business combination pro forma information gross margin of acquiree since acquisition date actual																																																		37,600,000
Business combination, acquisition and merger related expenses																																																		27,000,000	36,200,000	25,600,000
Business Combination, Integration Related Costs																																																		13,100,000	1,400,000
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired									100.00%				100.00%
Number of communications sites acquired									2,504				4,860	510			883					103	1,931				1,473						238	714	55					59	159			299	184
Number of property interests acquired									4																										23					4					6
Additional communications sites to be acquired									2,113
right to use property interests acquired									43
Aggregate purchase price					1,100,000,000			568,890,000		4,858,083,000						248,500,000		349,000,000		17,700,000	341,400,000			436,000,000		427,000,000		1,100,000,000	3,000,000,000		122,800,000	123,900,000		89,800,000	65,600,000			189,400,000			68,649,000	[1]	28,300,000		180,822,000								568,900,000														189,379,000			180,820,000
Termination fee																													260,000,000
Letters of credit, amount outstanding																														260,000,000
Payments for Repurchase of Trust Preferred Securities						61,100,000
Noncash or part noncash acquisition, value of liabilities assumed						261,100,000		11,500,000		1,527,621,000		1,527,621,000																							400,000			196,500,000	196,500,000					3,400,000
Repayments of Assumed Debt							122,100,000
Contingent consideration	28,524,000	31,890,000		23,711,000																																				6,500,000					6,300,000												9,300,000
Maximum number of communications sites to be acquired					4,800														2,790						1,666																							5,240	1,240
Value added tax receivable	23,228,000	77,016,000	[2]																															4,900,000							1,200,000			5,600,000																			60,300,000														59,000,000
Fair value of net assets acquired																											900,000																											726,127,000	2,455,495,000	[3]		241,772,000	[4]	340,280,000	409,004,000	[5]		110,823,000	84,847,000	60,759,000	358,955,000	64,638,000	[1]	164,998,000	2,338,418,000	[6]	241,772,000	[4]	323,096,000	[1]	402,844,000	[1],[7]	110,904,000	[1]	84,847,000	[1]	60,759,000	[1]
Business acquisition, cost of acquired entity, cash paid										3,330,462,000	[8]													436,900,000											65,200,000									40,300,000
Business Combination, Consideration Transferred, Other																																												36,300,000
Business Combination, Partial Cash Consideration Transferred																																												4,000,000
Borrowings under credit facilities	2,187,000,000	3,507,000,000		2,582,000,000						2,800,000,000
Business combination, updated contingent consideration potential cash payment												2,300,000																						4,100,000		600,000	19,700,000								5,900,000
Business combination, contingent consideration arrangements, range of outcomes, value, low	0											0																								0	0								0
Business combination, contingent consideration arrangements, range of outcomes, value, high	40,400,000											4,400,000																								600,000	29,500,000								5,900,000
Additional contingent consideration	6,412,000	13,474,000										100,000																																	6,300,000
Business combination, contingent consideration arrangements, change in amount of contingent consideration, liability												1,700,000			700,000																						1,400,000
Previous contingent consideration payments												3,500,000																																	400,000
Partial payment of aggregate purchase price												14,500,000
Extinguishment of Debt, Gain (Loss), Net of Tax	(3,379,000)	(35,288,000)		0																																										3,000,000
Short-term Debt																																															$ 250,000,000

[1] The allocation of the purchase price was finalized during the year ended December 31, 2014.

[2] December 31, 2013 balances have been revised to reflect purchase accounting measurement period adjustments.

[3] Balances are reflected in the consolidated balance sheets in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013.

[4] The allocation of the purchase price was finalized during the year ended December 31, 2013.

[5] Current assets includes approximately $60.3 million of value added tax.

[6] Balances are reflected as updated in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2013.

[7] Current assets includes approximately $59.0 million of value added tax.

[8] Cash consideration includes $14.5 million of an additional purchase price adjustment which was paid to the sellers during the year ended December 31, 2014 and is reflected in Accrued expenses on the consolidated balance sheet included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013.