Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 item	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Acquisition of QCII, amounts attributable to Qwest CenturyLink, Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Customer relationships	Dec. 31, 2011 Customer relationships	Sep. 30, 2012 Capitalized software	Dec. 31, 2011 Capitalized software	Sep. 30, 2012 Capitalized software Maximum	Mar. 31, 2011 Predecessor
Goodwill, Customer Relationships and Other Intangible Assets
Goodwill	$ 9,369			$ 9,369	$ 9,369
Customer relationships and other intangible assets subject to amortization
Customer relationships, less accumulated amortization	4,560			4,560	5,101		4,560	5,101
Capitalized software, less accumulated amortization	1,277			1,277	1,460				1,277	1,460
Accumulated amortization							1,139	598	644	354
Other intangible assets subject to amortization
Estimated life							10 years				7 years
Estimated amortization expense for intangible assets
Three months ending December 31, 2012	276			276
Year ending 2013	1,016			1,016
Year ending 2014	935			935
Year ending 2015	830			830
Year ending 2016	727			727
Goodwill recognized on acquisition						9,369
Number of reportable units	1			1
Number of years used to calculate discrete projection period				9 years
Weighted average cost of capital to calculate discount rate as of the measurement date (as a percent)				6.00%
After-tax cost component of weighted average cost of capital, cost of debt (as a percent)				3.20%
Cost of debt component of weighted average cost of capital, cost of equity (as a percent)				8.40%
Amortization expense	$ 274	$ 318	$ 637	$ 835								$ 58