Acquisition of QCII by CenturyLink (Details) (Acquisition of QCII, amounts attributable to Qwest, CenturyLink, Inc., USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 02, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 QCII	Dec. 31, 2012 QCII	Apr. 02, 2011 QCII	Apr. 02, 2011 QCII Customer relationships	Apr. 02, 2011 QCII Capitalized software	Apr. 30, 2011 QCII Retrospective adjustments Change in purchase price allocation item	Apr. 02, 2011 QCII Retrospective adjustments Change in purchase price allocation	Mar. 31, 2011 QCII Predecessor	Dec. 31, 2011 QCII Combined Predecessor and Successor
Assignment of the aggregate consideration
Cash, accounts receivable and other current assets				$ 1,091
Property, plant and equipment				7,460				(36)
Intangible assets					5,699	1,702
Other noncurrent assets				209
Current liabilities, excluding current maturities of long-term debt				(2,446)
Current maturities of long-term debt				(2,378)
Long-term debt				(6,310)
Deferred credits and other liabilities				(4,445)				(89)
Goodwill	9,369			9,369				(84)
Aggregate consideration				9,951
Fair value assigned to accounts receivable				674
Accounts receivable gross contractual value				722
Best estimate of contractual cash flows that would not be collected				48
Number of lease valuations for which revisions were made							1
Acquisition related expenses		$ 146	$ 39						$ 2	$ 148