Segment Information - Revenue Information on Services Basis (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 1,396,810	$ 1,283,751	$ 4,145,005	$ 3,761,571
Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	1,319,336	1,207,806	3,900,209	3,546,184
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	1,013,101	930,043	2,999,487	2,725,012
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	226,770	202,117	658,585	594,729
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	74,286	67,933	220,853	208,541
Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	5,179	7,713	21,284	17,902
Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	77,474	75,945	244,796	215,387
Americas [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	645,275	625,684	1,934,061	1,846,586
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	615,282	591,846	1,836,398	1,756,725
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	441,596	433,828	1,325,663	1,294,848
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	146,212	134,159	427,235	395,132
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	24,082	18,698	68,777	55,525
Americas [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	3,392	5,161	14,723	11,220
Americas [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	29,993	33,838	97,663	89,861
EMEA [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	458,140	396,755	1,342,655	1,159,553
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	427,702	370,651	1,245,020	1,085,723
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	357,201	305,072	1,036,121	886,651
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	41,063	34,640	117,202	103,586
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	27,651	28,387	85,136	88,804
EMEA [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	1,787	2,552	6,561	6,682
EMEA [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	30,438	26,104	97,635	73,830
Asia-Pacific [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	293,395	261,312	868,289	755,432
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	276,352	245,309	818,791	703,736
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Colocation [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	214,304	191,143	637,703	543,513
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Interconnection [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	39,495	33,318	114,148	96,011
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Managed infrastructure services [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	22,553	20,848	66,940	64,212
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Recurring Revenues [Member] | Other [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Asia-Pacific [Member] | Non-recurring Revenues [Member]
Revenue from External Customer [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 17,043	$ 16,003	$ 49,498	$ 51,696