Acquisition of NTELOS Holdings Corp. and Exchange with Sprint - Schedule of Preliminary Purchase Price Allocation and Revisions Recorded (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	8 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016	May 06, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Goodwill		$ 145,256		$ 10
Ntelos Holding, Corp [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Accounts receivable		45,688	$ 48,476
Inventory		4,572	3,810
Restricted cash		2,167	2,167
Investments		1,501	1,501
Prepaid expenses and other assets		14,835	14,835
Building held for sale		4,950	4,950
Property, plant and equipment		228,276	223,900
Goodwill		145,142	151,627
Other long term assets		10,843	10,288
Total assets acquired		879,949	868,954
Accounts payable		8,543	8,648
Advanced billings and customer deposits		12,477	12,477
Accrued expenses		24,885	25,230
Capital lease liability		418	418
Deferred tax liabilities		126,589	124,964
Retirement benefits		19,198	19,461
Other long-term liabilities		20,085	14,056
Business Combination, Provisional Information, Initial Accounting Incomplete, Adjustment, Noncurrent Liabilities, Other		6,029
Total liabilities assumed		212,195	205,254
Net assets acquired		667,754	663,700
Business Combination, Provisional Information, Initial Accounting Incomplete, Adjustments [Abstract]
Accounts receivable, revisions		(2,788)
Inventory, revisions		762
Property, plant and equipment, revisions		4,376
Goodwill, revisions		(6,485)
Other long term assets, revisions		555
Total assets acquired, revisions		10,995
Accounts payable, revisions		(105)
Accrued expenses, revisions		(345)
Deferred tax liabilities, revisions		1,625
Retirement benefits, revisions		(263)
Total liabilities assumed, revisions		6,941
Net assets acquired, revisions		(4,054)
Spectrum Licenses [Member] | Ntelos Holding, Corp [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Intangibles		198,200	198,200
Customer Based Contract Rights [Member] | Ntelos Holding, Corp [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Intangibles		206,746	198,200
Business Combination, Provisional Information, Initial Accounting Incomplete, Adjustments [Abstract]
Intangibles, revisions	$ (24,500)	8,546
Favorable lease intangible assets [Member] | Ntelos Holding, Corp [Member]
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net [Abstract]
Intangibles		17,029	$ 11,000
Business Combination, Provisional Information, Initial Accounting Incomplete, Adjustments [Abstract]
Intangibles, revisions		$ 6,029