Represents the period after which property plant and equipment is capitalized.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Represents the property, plant and equipment excluding any construction in progress and construction inventory but net of accumulated depreciation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
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-Paragraph 1
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The current period expense charged against earnings on long-lived, physical assets not used in production, and which are not intended for resale, to allocate or recognize the cost of such assets over their useful lives; or to record the reduction in book value of an intangible asset over the benefit period of such asset; or to reflect consumption during the period of an asset that is not used in production.

+ References

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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121586364&loc=d3e3602-108585

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
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-Section 50
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+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
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- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=cnsl_CentralOfficeSwitchingAndTransmissionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=cnsl_OutsidePlantCableWireAndFiberFacilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=cnsl_FurnitureFixturesAndEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=cnsl_FinanceLeasedAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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BUSINESS DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Property, Plant, and Equipment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 4,130,524	$ 3,975,275
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(2,466,407)	(2,228,481)
Plant in service	1,664,117	1,746,794
Totals	1,760,152	1,835,878
Depreciation and amortization expense	$ 274,200	315,000	$ 366,300
Internal use network and non-network software \| Maximum
Property, plant and equipment
Period after which property plan and equipment capitalized	1 year
Land and buildings
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 274,535	270,443
Land and buildings \| Minimum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	18 years
Land and buildings \| Maximum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	40 years
Central office switching and transmission
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 1,475,590	1,363,533
Central office switching and transmission \| Minimum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	3 years
Central office switching and transmission \| Maximum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	25 years
Outside plant cable, wire and fiber facilities
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 2,036,312	2,002,264
Outside plant cable, wire and fiber facilities \| Minimum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	3 years
Outside plant cable, wire and fiber facilities \| Maximum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	50 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 303,680	287,711
Furniture, fixtures and equipment \| Minimum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	3 years
Furniture, fixtures and equipment \| Maximum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	15 years
Assets under finance leases
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 40,407	51,324
Assets under finance leases \| Minimum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	1 year
Assets under finance leases \| Maximum
Property, plant and equipment
Estimated Useful Lives	20 years
Construction in progress
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 64,056	59,624
Construction inventory
Property, plant and equipment
Total plant in service	$ 31,979	$ 29,460