Commitments and Contingencies (Details Textual) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	4 Months Ended	12 Months Ended								12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	60 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 29, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	May 02, 2013	Jul. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013 Service quality penalties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Service quality penalties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Performance assurance plan credits [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Performance assurance plan credits [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Claims reserve [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Other purposes [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Maine [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Vermont [Member] Broadband build-out [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 New Hampshire [Member] Capital Addition Purchase Commitments [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 New Hampshire [Member] Broadband build-out [Member]
Service Quality Penalties [Abstract]
Total estimated liability recognized for service quality penalties						$ 1,900,000	$ 2,100,000
Service Quality Penalties, Costs Incurred												1,700,000
Service Quality Penalty Credits, Per Access Line				0.48
Total retail service quality plan penalties approved for broadband deployment		2,500,000
New Hampshire's Authorization for next phase of developing expansion plan	2,800,000
Build broadband connections in rural areas	500,000
Performance Assurance Plan Credits [Abstract]
Total reserve related to PAP								1,000,000	1,400,000
Total accrued PAP penalties approved to deploy broadband		4,100,000
Restricted Cash [Abstract]
Restricted cash					6,300,000					700,000	600,000		1,800,000		3,200,000
Restricted cash utilized													1,000,000		100,000
Magnitude of Bankruptcy Claims [Abstract]
Claims filed with Bankruptcy Court against company			4,900,000,000
Amount of bankruptcy claims settled			3,800,000,000
Claims Disallowed by Court			1,100,000,000
Claims Withdrawn by Creditors			10,100,000
Claims remain open pending settlement or objection			5,500,000
Capital Expenditure Obligations [Abstract]
Capital expenditure obligations in New Hampshire														$ 285,400,000