Long-Term Debt and Revolving Promissory Note (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended							0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011 Predecessor	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior notes Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior notes Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 Capital lease and other obligations	Dec. 31, 2012 Capital lease and other obligations	May 23, 2013 Notes 6.125% due 2053 Qwest Corporation	Jun. 25, 2012 7.0% Notes due July 2052 Qwest Corporation	Apr. 18, 2012 7.625% Noted due 2015 and 8.375% Notes due 2016	Apr. 02, 2012 7.0% Notes due April 2052 Qwest Corporation	Jul. 17, 2013 Floating rate notes due 2013	Jul. 20, 2012 7.5% Notes due 2023	Apr. 18, 2012 8.375% Notes due 2016	Apr. 18, 2012 7.625% Notes due 2015	Apr. 18, 2012 Revolving promissory note CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving promissory note CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving promissory note CenturyLink, Inc. affiliate
Long-term debt
Interest rate (as a percent)							6.125%	8.375%			6.125%	7.00%		7.00%		7.50%	8.375%	7.625%		6.765%
Notes Payable, Related Parties																				$ 754,000,000	$ 701,000,000
Face amount of debt instrument																	811,000,000	400,000,000		1,000,000,000
Unamortized premiums, net		75,000,000	(127,000,000)
Total long-term debt		7,558,000,000	7,625,000,000		7,411,000,000	7,386,000,000			72,000,000	112,000,000
Less current maturities		(637,000,000)	(804,000,000)
Long-term debt, excluding current maturities		6,921,000,000	6,821,000,000
Principal amount of notes issued											775,000,000	400,000,000		525,000,000					580,000,000
Principal amount sold pursuant to an over-allotment option granted to the underwriters											25,000,000
Net proceeds from issuance of debt											752,000,000	387,000,000		508,000,000
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount of notes plus accrued interest											100.00%	100.00%		100.00%
Repayments of Long-term Debt	2,368,000,000	806,000,000	1,430,000,000	14,000,000											750,000,000
Amount of notes redeemed																484,000,000	722,000,000	369,000,000
Principal amount of notes for which tender offers are received and accepted																	575,000,000	308,000,000
Percentage of principal amount of notes for which tender offer was received and accepted																	71.00%	77.00%
Net loss on early retirement of debt	8,000,000		47,000,000	0									46,000,000
Maturities of long-term debt (excluding unamortized premiums, discounts, and other)
2014		637,000,000
2015		122,000,000
2016		237,000,000
2017		500,000,000
2018		0
2019 and thereafter		5,987,000,000
Total long-term debt		7,483,000,000
Amount of gross interest expense, net of capitalized interest and interest expense ( income) -affiliates
Gross interest expense	305,000,000	467,000,000	461,000,000	153,000,000
Capitalized interest	(5,000,000)	(17,000,000)	(18,000,000)	(3,000,000)
Interest expense (income)-affiliates	(1,000,000)	64,000,000	24,000,000	0
Total interest expense	$ 300,000,000	$ 450,000,000	$ 443,000,000	$ 150,000,000