CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (Parenthetical) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Current assets:
Allowances for accounts receivable, current	$ 107,725	$ 107,048
Shareholders' equity of Frontier:
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.25	$ 0.25
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	1,750,000,000	1,750,000,000
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	998,453,000	995,128,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	1,027,986,000	1,027,986,000