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Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all assets that are recognized. Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events.

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The aggregate costs related to goods produced and sold and services rendered by an entity during the reporting period. This excludes costs incurred during the reporting period related to financial services rendered and other revenue generating activities.

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Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 State	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014 Segment State	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of reportable segments									3us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Non Sprint operations, number of states	4shen_NonSprintOperationsNumberOfStates								4shen_NonSprintOperationsNumberOfStates
External revenues [Abstract]
Service revenues									$ 282,502us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	$ 268,990us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	$ 243,943us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet
Other revenues									44,444us-gaap_OtherSalesRevenueNet	39,952us-gaap_OtherSalesRevenueNet	44,132us-gaap_OtherSalesRevenueNet
Total external revenues									326,946shen_ExternalRevenues	308,942shen_ExternalRevenues	288,075shen_ExternalRevenues
Internal revenues									0shen_InternalRevenues	0shen_InternalRevenues	0shen_InternalRevenues
Total operating revenues	82,810us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	82,268us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	81,416us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	80,452us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	77,965us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	77,513us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	77,454us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	76,010us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	326,946us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	308,942us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	288,075us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Operating expenses [Abstract]
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below									129,743us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold	125,140us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold	117,407us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold
Goodwill impairment									0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss	0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss	10,952us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below									69,370	67,673	60,646
Depreciation and amortization									65,890us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization	60,722us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization	64,412us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization
Total operating expenses									265,003us-gaap_OperatingExpenses	253,535us-gaap_OperatingExpenses	253,417us-gaap_OperatingExpenses
Operating income	16,326us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	14,144us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15,793us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15,680us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	12,436us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	13,262us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	14,500us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15,209us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	61,943us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	55,407us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	34,658us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Reconciliation of income from continuing operations from segments to consolidated [Abstract]
Total consolidated operating income	16,326us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	14,144us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15,793us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15,680us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	12,436us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	13,262us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	14,500us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	15,209us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	61,943us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	55,407us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	34,658us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest expense									(8,148)us-gaap_InterestExpense	(8,468)us-gaap_InterestExpense	(7,850)us-gaap_InterestExpense
Non-operating income, net									2,239shen_NonoperatingIncomeExpenseNet	2,525shen_NonoperatingIncomeExpenseNet	1,803shen_NonoperatingIncomeExpenseNet
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									56,034	49,464	28,611
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	619,242us-gaap_Assets				597,006us-gaap_Assets				619,242us-gaap_Assets	597,006us-gaap_Assets
Other [Member]
External revenues [Abstract]
Service revenues									0	0	0
Other revenues									0	0	0
Total external revenues									0	0	0
Internal revenues									0	0	0
Total operating revenues									0	0	0
Operating expenses [Abstract]
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below									0	0	26
Goodwill impairment											0
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below									13,148	12,765	12,266
Depreciation and amortization									407	35	61
Total operating expenses									13,555	12,800	12,353
Operating income									(13,555)	(12,800)	(12,353)
Reconciliation of income from continuing operations from segments to consolidated [Abstract]
Total consolidated operating income									(13,555)	(12,800)	(12,353)
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	446,028				435,804				446,028	435,804
Total Segments [Member]
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	964,228				956,481				964,228	956,481
Reportable Segments [Member] \| Wireless [Member]
External revenues [Abstract]
Service revenues									191,147	182,955	162,912
Other revenues									11,867	10,842	13,398
Total external revenues									203,014	193,797	176,310
Internal revenues									4,440	4,328	3,328
Total operating revenues									207,454	198,125	179,638
Operating expenses [Abstract]
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below									73,290	72,995	63,906
Goodwill impairment											0
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below									33,171	32,812	27,281
Depreciation and amortization									31,111	28,177	31,660
Total operating expenses									137,572	133,984	122,847
Operating income									69,882	64,141	56,791
Reconciliation of income from continuing operations from segments to consolidated [Abstract]
Total consolidated operating income									69,882	64,141	56,791
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	218,887				229,038				218,887	229,038
Reportable Segments [Member] \| Cable [Member]
External revenues [Abstract]
Service revenues									70,972	65,657	61,252
Other revenues									13,431	10,092	9,322
Total external revenues									84,403	75,749	70,574
Internal revenues									150	123	289
Total operating revenues									84,553	75,872	70,863
Operating expenses [Abstract]
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below									51,982	45,767	44,563
Goodwill impairment											7,652
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below									19,521	19,052	17,642
Depreciation and amortization									23,148	21,202	22,446
Total operating expenses									94,651	86,021	92,303
Operating income									(10,098)	(10,149)	(21,440)
Reconciliation of income from continuing operations from segments to consolidated [Abstract]
Total consolidated operating income									(10,098)	(10,149)	(21,440)
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	201,232				199,184				201,232	199,184
Reportable Segments [Member] \| Wireline [Member]
External revenues [Abstract]
Service revenues									20,383	20,378	19,779
Other revenues									19,146	19,018	21,412
Total external revenues									39,529	39,396	41,191
Internal revenues									23,506	20,074	18,927
Total operating revenues									63,035	59,470	60,118
Operating expenses [Abstract]
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below									30,088	28,603	29,199
Goodwill impairment											3,300
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below									6,009	5,344	5,714
Depreciation and amortization									11,224	11,308	10,245
Total operating expenses									47,321	45,255	48,458
Operating income									15,714	14,215	11,660
Reconciliation of income from continuing operations from segments to consolidated [Abstract]
Total consolidated operating income									15,714	14,215	11,660
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	98,081				92,455				98,081	92,455
Eliminations [Member]
External revenues [Abstract]
Service revenues									0	0	0
Other revenues									0	0	0
Total external revenues									0	0	0
Internal revenues									(28,096)	(24,525)	(22,544)
Total operating revenues									(28,096)	(24,525)	(22,544)
Operating expenses [Abstract]
Cost of goods and services, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below									(25,617)	(22,225)	(20,287)
Goodwill impairment											0
Selling, general and administrative, exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown below									(2,479)	(2,300)	(2,257)
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
Total operating expenses									(28,096)	(24,525)	(22,544)
Operating income									0	0	0
Reconciliation of income from continuing operations from segments to consolidated [Abstract]
Total consolidated operating income									0	0	0
Assets by segment [Abstract]
Assets	$ (344,986)				$ (359,475)				$ (344,986)	$ (359,475)