| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Boolean flag that is true when the XBRL content amends previously-filed or accepted submission. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Area code of city No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition End date of current fiscal year in the format --MM-DD. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Fiscal period values are FY, Q1, Q2, and Q3. 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter 10-Q or 10-QT statements have value Q1, Q2, and Q3 respectively, with 10-K, 10-KT or other fiscal year statements having FY. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition This is focus fiscal year of the document report in CCYY format. For a 2006 annual report, which may also provide financial information from prior periods, fiscal 2006 should be given as the fiscal year focus. Example: 2006. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The end date of the period reflected on the cover page if a periodic report. For all other reports and registration statements containing historical data, it is the date up through which that historical data is presented. If there is no historical data in the report, use the filing date. The format of the date is CCYY-MM-DD. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Boolean flag that is true only for a form used as an quarterly report. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Boolean flag that is true only for a form used as a transition report. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The type of document being provided (such as 10-K, 10-Q, 485BPOS, etc). The document type is limited to the same value as the supporting SEC submission type, or the word 'Other'. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Address Line 1 such as Attn, Building Name, Street Name No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Address Line 2 such as Street or Suite number No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Name of the City or Town No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Code for the postal or zip code No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Name of the state or province. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition A unique 10-digit SEC-issued value to identify entities that have filed disclosures with the SEC. It is commonly abbreviated as CIK. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Indicate number of shares or other units outstanding of each of registrant's classes of capital or common stock or other ownership interests, if and as stated on cover of related periodic report. Where multiple classes or units exist define each class/interest by adding class of stock items such as Common Class A [Member], Common Class B [Member] or Partnership Interest [Member] onto the Instrument [Domain] of the Entity Listings, Instrument. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Indicate 'Yes' or 'No' whether registrants (1) have filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that registrants were required to file such reports), and (2) have been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. This information should be based on the registrant's current or most recent filing containing the related disclosure. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Indicate if registrant meets the emerging growth company criteria. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Commission file number. The field allows up to 17 characters. The prefix may contain 1-3 digits, the sequence number may contain 1-8 digits, the optional suffix may contain 1-4 characters, and the fields are separated with a hyphen. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Indicate whether the registrant is one of the following: Large Accelerated Filer, Accelerated Filer, Non-accelerated Filer. Definitions of these categories are stated in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. This information should be based on the registrant's current or most recent filing containing the related disclosure. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Two-character EDGAR code representing the state or country of incorporation. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Boolean flag that is true when the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The exact name of the entity filing the report as specified in its charter, which is required by forms filed with the SEC. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Boolean flag that is true when the registrant is a shell company as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Indicates that the company is a Smaller Reporting Company (SRC). Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The Tax Identification Number (TIN), also known as an Employer Identification Number (EIN), is a unique 9-digit value assigned by the IRS. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Local phone number for entity. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Title of a 12(b) registered security. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Name of the Exchange on which a security is registered. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Trading symbol of an instrument as listed on an exchange. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Details
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| X | ||||||||||
- Details
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Carrying value as of the balance sheet date of liabilities incurred (and for which invoices have typically been received) and payable to vendors for goods and services received that are used in an entity's business. Used to reflect the current portion of the liabilities (due within one year or within the normal operating cycle if longer). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount, after allowance for credit loss, of right to consideration from customer for product sold and service rendered in normal course of business, classified as current. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Accumulated change in equity from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, net of tax effect, at period end. Excludes Net Income (Loss), and accumulated changes in equity from transactions resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. Includes foreign currency translation items, certain pension adjustments, unrealized gains and losses on certain investments in debt and equity securities, other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses related to factors other than credit losses on available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities that an entity does not intend to sell and it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell before recovery of the amortized cost basis, as well as changes in the fair value of derivatives related to the effective portion of a designated cash flow hedge. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Excess of issue price over par or stated value of the entity's capital stock and amounts received from other transactions involving the entity's stock or stockholders. Includes adjustments to additional paid in capital. Some examples of such adjustments include recording the issuance of debt with a beneficial conversion feature and certain tax consequences of equity instruments awarded to employees. Use this element for the aggregate amount of additional paid-in capital associated with common and preferred stock. For additional paid-in capital associated with only common stock, use the element additional paid in capital, common stock. For additional paid-in capital associated with only preferred stock, use the element additional paid in capital, preferred stock. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition 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. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all assets that are expected to be realized in cash, sold, or consumed within one year (or the normal operating cycle, if longer). Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate par or stated value of issued nonredeemable common stock (or common stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer). This item includes treasury stock repurchased by the entity. Note: elements for number of nonredeemable common shares, par value and other disclosure concepts are in another section within stockholders' equity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of short-term debt and current maturity of long-term debt and capital lease obligations due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition For a classified balance sheet, the cumulative difference between the rental income or payments required by a lease agreement and the rental income or expense recognized on a straight-line basis, or other systematic and rational basis more representative of the time pattern in which use or benefit is granted or derived from the leased property, expected to be recognized in income or expense, by the lessor or lessee, respectively, more than one year after the balance sheet date. Such receivable is reduced by allowances attributable to, for instance, credit risk associated with a lessee. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of deferred income and obligation to transfer product and service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable, classified as current. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Sum of the carrying amounts of all intangible assets, excluding goodwill, as of the balance sheet date, net of accumulated amortization and impairment charges. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Carrying value as of the balance sheet date of [accrued] interest payable on all forms of debt, including trade payables, that has been incurred and is unpaid. Used to reflect the current portion of the liabilities (due within one year or within the normal operating cycle if longer). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all liabilities that are recognized. Liabilities are probable future sacrifices of economic benefits arising from present obligations of an entity to transfer assets or provide services to other entities in the future. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of liabilities and equity items, including the portion of equity attributable to noncontrolling interests, if any. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Total obligations incurred as part of normal operations that are expected to be paid during the following twelve months or within one business cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of long-term debt and lease obligation, classified as noncurrent. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease, classified as current. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease, classified as noncurrent. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's right to use underlying asset under operating lease. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of current assets classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of noncurrent assets classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of liabilities classified as other, due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of liabilities classified as other, due after one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate par or stated value of issued nonredeemable preferred stock (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer). This item includes treasury stock repurchased by the entity. Note: elements for number of nonredeemable preferred shares, par value and other disclosure concepts are in another section within stockholders' equity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of asset related to consideration paid in advance for costs that provide economic benefits within a future period of one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash and cash equivalents restricted as to withdrawal or usage, classified as current. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, and other accounts with general characteristics of demand deposits. Cash equivalents include, but are not limited to, short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cumulative amount of the reporting entity's undistributed earnings or deficit. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of stockholders' equity (deficit), net of receivables from officers, directors, owners, and affiliates of the entity, attributable to both the parent and noncontrolling interests. Amount excludes temporary equity. Alternate caption for the concept is permanent equity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet (Parenthetical) - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet (Parenthetical) [Abstract] | ||
| Accumulated depreciation, property and equipment | $ 9,394 | $ 8,566 |
| Preferred Stock, Par or Stated Value Per Share | $ 0.01 | $ 0.01 |
| Preferred Stock, Shares Authorized | 20 | 20 |
| Preferred Stock, Shares Issued | 2 | 2 |
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding | 2 | 2 |
| Preferred Stock, Liquidation Preference, Value | $ 1,650 | $ 1,650 |
| Common stock, par value | $ 0.01 | $ 0.01 |
| Common stock, shares authorized | 600 | 600 |
| Common stock, shares outstanding | 416 | 415 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet (Parenthetical) [Abstract] No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Face amount or stated value per share of common stock. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The maximum number of common shares permitted to be issued by an entity's charter and bylaws. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of shares of common stock outstanding. Common stock represent the ownership interest in a corporation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Value of the difference between preference in liquidation and the par or stated values of the preferred shares. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Face amount or stated value per share of preferred stock nonredeemable or redeemable solely at the option of the issuer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The maximum number of nonredeemable preferred shares (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer) permitted to be issued by an entity's charter and bylaws. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Total number of nonredeemable preferred shares (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer) issued to shareholders (includes related preferred shares that were issued, repurchased, and remain in the treasury). May be all or portion of the number of preferred shares authorized. Excludes preferred shares that are classified as debt. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate share number for all nonredeemable preferred stock (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer) held by stockholders. Does not include preferred shares that have been repurchased. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
|||||||||
| Net revenues: | ||||||||||||
| Site Rental | $ 1,260 | $ 1,184 | $ 3,718 | $ 3,507 | ||||||||
| Services and other | 254 | 191 | 700 | 497 | ||||||||
| Net Revenues | 1,514 | 1,375 | 4,418 | 4,004 | ||||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Site rental | [1] | 369 | 355 | 1,095 | 1,057 | |||||||
| Services and other | [1] | 147 | 119 | 410 | 304 | |||||||
| Selling, general and administrative | 150 | 145 | 457 | 418 | ||||||||
| Asset write-down charges | 2 | 8 | 13 | 18 | ||||||||
| Acquisition and integration costs | 4 | 4 | 10 | 18 | ||||||||
| Depreciation, amortization and accretion | 389 | 385 | 1,176 | 1,138 | ||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 1,061 | 1,016 | 3,161 | 2,953 | ||||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 453 | 359 | 1,257 | 1,051 | ||||||||
| Nonoperating Income (Expense) [Abstract] | ||||||||||||
| Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs | 173 | 160 | 510 | 478 | ||||||||
| Gains (losses) on retirement of long-term obligations | 0 | (32) | (2) | (106) | ||||||||
| Interest income | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||
| Other income (expense) | (5) | 1 | (6) | 0 | ||||||||
| Income (loss) before income taxes | 277 | 169 | 744 | 471 | ||||||||
| Benefit (provision) for income taxes | (5) | (5) | (15) | (13) | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to CCIC stockholders | 272 | 164 | 729 | 458 | ||||||||
| Dividends/distributions on preferred stock | [2] | (28) | (28) | (85) | (85) | |||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders | 244 | 136 | 644 | 373 | ||||||||
| Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax [Abstract] | ||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments | 0 | 0 | 0 | (1) | [3] | |||||||
| Total other comprehensive income (loss) | 0 | 0 | (1) | |||||||||
| Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to CCIC stockholders | $ 272 | $ 164 | $ 729 | $ 457 | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders, per common share: | ||||||||||||
| Basic | $ 0.59 | $ 0.33 | $ 1.55 | $ 0.90 | ||||||||
| Diluted | $ 0.58 | $ 0.33 | $ 1.54 | $ 0.90 | ||||||||
| Weighted-average common shares outstanding (in millions): | ||||||||||||
| Basic | 416 | 415 | 416 | 413 | ||||||||
| Diluted | 418 | 416 | 418 | 414 | ||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition This element represents acquisition and integration related costs incurred to effect a business combination which costs have been expensed during the period. Such costs include finder's fees; advisory, legal, accounting, valuation, and other professional or consulting fees; general administrative costs; integration costs; and may include costs of registering and issuing debt and equity securities. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition n/a No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Contains revenue from accounted under both Topic 606 (Finance leases) and Topic 842 (Operating leases) No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after tax of increase (decrease) in equity from transactions and other events and circumstances from net income and other comprehensive income, attributable to parent entity. Excludes changes in equity resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition 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. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Total costs of sales and operating expenses for the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The aggregate net amount of depreciation, amortization, and accretion recognized during an accounting period. As a noncash item, the net amount is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of expense incurred and directly related to generating revenue from leased and rented property or equipment. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of paid and unpaid preferred stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash, stock and payment-in-kind (PIK). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The amount of net income (loss) for the period per each share of common stock or unit outstanding during the reporting period. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The amount of net income (loss) for the period available to each share of common stock or common unit outstanding during the reporting period and to each share or unit that would have been outstanding assuming the issuance of common shares or units for all dilutive potential common shares or units outstanding during the reporting period. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Difference between the fair value of payments made and the carrying amount of debt which is extinguished prior to maturity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations before deduction of income tax expense (benefit) and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest, and addition of income (loss) from equity method investments. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense for debt. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount before accretion (amortization) of purchase discount (premium) of interest income on nonoperating securities. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount, after deduction of tax, noncontrolling interests, dividends on preferred stock and participating securities; of income (loss) available to common shareholders. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after tax and reclassification adjustments of gain (loss) on foreign currency translation adjustments, foreign currency transactions designated and effective as economic hedges of a net investment in a foreign entity and intra-entity foreign currency transactions that are of a long-term-investment nature. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after tax and reclassification adjustments of other comprehensive income (loss). Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of income (expense) related to nonoperating activities, classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The consolidated profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, including the portion attributable to the noncontrolling interest. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss). Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The aggregate total costs related to selling a firm's product and services, as well as all other general and administrative expenses. Direct selling expenses (for example, credit, warranty, and advertising) are expenses that can be directly linked to the sale of specific products. Indirect selling expenses are expenses that cannot be directly linked to the sale of specific products, for example telephone expenses, Internet, and postal charges. General and administrative expenses include salaries of non-sales personnel, rent, utilities, communication, etc. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The average number of shares or units issued and outstanding that are used in calculating diluted EPS or earnings per unit (EPU), determined based on the timing of issuance of shares or units in the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of [basic] shares or units, after adjustment for contingently issuable shares or units and other shares or units not deemed outstanding, determined by relating the portion of time within a reporting period that common shares or units have been outstanding to the total time in that period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows - USD ($) $ in Millions |
9 Months Ended | |
|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
|
| Cash flows from operating activities: | ||
| Net income (loss) | $ 729 | $ 458 |
| Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used for) operating activities: | ||
| Depreciation, amortization and accretion | 1,176 | 1,138 |
| (Gains) losses on retirement of long-term obligations | 2 | 106 |
| Amortization of deferred financing costs and other non-cash interest | 1 | 5 |
| Stock-based compensation expense | 91 | 79 |
| Asset write-down charges | 13 | 18 |
| Deferred income tax (benefit) provision | 2 | 2 |
| Other non-cash adjustments | 4 | 2 |
| Changes in assets and liabilities, excluding the effects of acquisitions: | ||
| Increase (decrease) in accrued interest | (38) | (31) |
| Increase (decrease) in accounts payable | 37 | 31 |
| Increase (decrease) in other liabilities | 102 | 144 |
| Decrease (increase) in receivables | (166) | (74) |
| Decrease (increase) in other assets | (62) | (103) |
| Net cash provided by (used for) operating activities | 1,891 | 1,775 |
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ||
| Payments for acquisitions, net of cash acquired | (15) | (26) |
| Capital expenditures | (1,538) | (1,241) |
| Other investing activities, net | 3 | (14) |
| Net cash provided by (used for) investing activities | (1,550) | (1,281) |
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt | 1,895 | 2,743 |
| Principal payments on debt and other long-term obligations | (59) | (76) |
| Purchases and redemptions of long-term debt | (12) | (2,346) |
| Borrowings under revolving credit facility | 1,585 | 1,290 |
| Payments under revolving credit facility | (2,270) | (1,465) |
| Payments for financing costs | (24) | (33) |
| Net proceeds from issuance of common stock | 0 | 841 |
| Purchases of Common Stock | (44) | (34) |
| Dividends/distributions paid on common stock | (1,415) | (1,315) |
| Dividends/distributions paid on preferred stock | (85) | (85) |
| Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities | (429) | (480) |
| Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | (88) | 14 |
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period | 413 | 440 |
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period | 325 | 453 |
| Effect of Exchange Rate on Cash and Cash Equivalents [Abstract] | ||
| Effect of exchange rate changes | $ 0 | $ (1) |
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of amortization expense attributable to debt discount (premium) and debt issuance costs. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents are the amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes effect from exchange rate changes. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash and cash equivalents, and cash and cash equivalents restricted to withdrawal or usage. Excludes amount for disposal group and discontinued operations. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, and other accounts with general characteristics of demand deposits. Cash equivalents include, but are not limited to, short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to income (loss) from continuing operations. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The aggregate net amount of depreciation, amortization, and accretion recognized during an accounting period. As a noncash item, the net amount is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of increase (decrease) from the effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalent balances held in foreign currencies. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Difference between the fair value of payments made and the carrying amount of debt which is extinguished prior to maturity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after tax of income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to the parent. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Change in recurring obligations of a business that arise from the acquisition of merchandise, materials, supplies and services used in the production and sale of goods and services. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The increase (decrease) during the reporting period in interest payable, which represents the amount owed to note holders, bond holders, and other parties for interest earned on loans or credit extended to the reporting entity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of increase (decrease) in operating assets classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of increase (decrease) in operating liabilities classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The increase (decrease) during the reporting period in the total amount due within one year (or one operating cycle) from all parties, associated with underlying transactions that are classified as operating activities. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash inflow (outflow) from financing activities, including discontinued operations. Financing activity cash flows include obtaining resources from owners and providing them with a return on, and a return of, their investment; borrowing money and repaying amounts borrowed, or settling the obligation; and obtaining and paying for other resources obtained from creditors on long-term credit. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash inflow (outflow) from investing activities, including discontinued operations. Investing activity cash flows include making and collecting loans and acquiring and disposing of debt or equity instruments and property, plant, and equipment and other productive assets. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash inflow (outflow) from operating activities, including discontinued operations. Operating activity cash flows include transactions, adjustments, and changes in value not defined as investing or financing activities. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of income (expense) included in net income that results in no cash inflow (outflow), classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash (inflow) outflow from investing activities classified as other. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow to reacquire common stock during the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash outflow in the form of ordinary dividends to common shareholders of the parent entity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash outflow in the form of ordinary dividends to preferred shareholders of the parent entity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow for loan and debt issuance costs. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of a business, net of the cash acquired from the purchase. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow for purchases of and capital improvements on property, plant and equipment (capital expenditures), software, and other intangible assets. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash inflow from a debt initially having maturity due after one year or beyond the operating cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash inflow from the issuance of common stock, preferred stock, treasury stock, stock options, and other types of equity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash inflow from contractual arrangement with the lender, including but not limited to, letter of credit, standby letter of credit and revolving credit arrangements. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash outflow for payment of an obligation from a lender, including but not limited to, letter of credit, standby letter of credit and revolving credit arrangements. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow for debt initially having maturity due after one year or beyond the normal operating cycle, if longer. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash outflow for the payment of debt classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of noncash expense for share-based payment arrangement. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Equity - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
Total |
Common Stock [Member] |
6.875% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock [Member] |
Additional Paid-in Capital [Member] |
Accumulated Foreign Currency Adjustment Attributable to Parent [Member] |
Dividends/Distributions in Excess of Earnings [Member] |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance, shares Period Start at Dec. 31, 2017 | 406 | ||||||||||
| Balance, value Period Start at Dec. 31, 2017 | $ 12,339 | $ 4 | $ 0 | $ 16,844 | $ (4) | $ (4,505) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period Start at Dec. 31, 2017 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, value | 92 | 92 | |||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, shares | 1 | ||||||||||
| Purchases and retirement of common stock, value | (34) | (34) | |||||||||
| Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | 8 | ||||||||||
| Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues | 841 | 841 | |||||||||
| Common stock dividends/distributions | [1] | (1,315) | (1,315) | ||||||||
| Dividends/distributions on preferred stock | [1] | (85) | (85) | ||||||||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments | [2] | (1) | (1) | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) | 458 | 458 | |||||||||
| Balance, shares Period End at Sep. 30, 2018 | 415 | ||||||||||
| Balance, value Period End at Sep. 30, 2018 | 12,295 | $ 4 | $ 0 | 17,743 | (5) | (5,447) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period End at Sep. 30, 2018 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Balance, shares Period Start at Jun. 30, 2018 | 415 | ||||||||||
| Balance, value Period Start at Jun. 30, 2018 | 12,566 | $ 4 | $ 0 | 17,711 | (5) | (5,144) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period Start at Jun. 30, 2018 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, value | 32 | 32 | |||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, shares | 0 | ||||||||||
| Purchases and retirement of common stock, value | (1) | (1) | |||||||||
| Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues | 0 | ||||||||||
| Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Purchases and retirement of common stock, shares | 0 | ||||||||||
| Common stock dividends/distributions | [1] | (439) | (439) | ||||||||
| Dividends/distributions on preferred stock | [1] | (28) | (28) | ||||||||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) | 164 | 164 | |||||||||
| Balance, shares Period End at Sep. 30, 2018 | 415 | ||||||||||
| Balance, value Period End at Sep. 30, 2018 | $ 12,295 | $ 4 | $ 0 | 17,743 | (5) | (5,447) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period End at Sep. 30, 2018 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Balance, shares Period Start at Dec. 31, 2018 | 415 | 415 | |||||||||
| Balance, value Period Start at Dec. 31, 2018 | $ 12,034 | $ 4 | $ 0 | 17,767 | (5) | (5,732) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period Start at Dec. 31, 2018 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, value | $ 106 | 106 | |||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, shares | 1 | ||||||||||
| Purchases and retirement of common stock, value | (44) | (44) | |||||||||
| Common stock dividends/distributions | [1] | (1,415) | (1,415) | ||||||||
| Dividends/distributions on preferred stock | [1] | (85) | (85) | ||||||||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments | 0 | ||||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ 729 | 729 | |||||||||
| Balance, shares Period End at Sep. 30, 2019 | 416 | 416 | |||||||||
| Balance, value Period End at Sep. 30, 2019 | $ 11,325 | $ 4 | $ 0 | 17,829 | (5) | (6,503) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period End at Sep. 30, 2019 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Balance, shares Period Start at Jun. 30, 2019 | 416 | ||||||||||
| Balance, value Period Start at Jun. 30, 2019 | $ 11,523 | $ 4 | $ 0 | 17,801 | (5) | (6,277) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period Start at Jun. 30, 2019 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, value | 29 | 29 | |||||||||
| Stock-based compensation related activity, net of forfeitures, shares | 0 | ||||||||||
| Purchases and retirement of common stock, value | (1) | (1) | |||||||||
| Purchases and retirement of common stock, shares | 0 | ||||||||||
| Common stock dividends/distributions | [1] | (470) | (470) | ||||||||
| Dividends/distributions on preferred stock | [1] | (28) | (28) | ||||||||
| Foreign currency translation adjustments | 0 | ||||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ 272 | 272 | |||||||||
| Balance, shares Period End at Sep. 30, 2019 | 416 | 416 | |||||||||
| Balance, value Period End at Sep. 30, 2019 | $ 11,325 | $ 4 | $ 0 | $ 17,829 | $ (5) | $ (6,503) | |||||
| Preferred Stock, Shares Outstanding Period End at Sep. 30, 2019 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| |||||||||||
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of shares of common stock outstanding. Common stock represent the ownership interest in a corporation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of paid and unpaid common stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash, stock and payment-in-kind (PIK). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of paid and unpaid preferred stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash, stock and payment-in-kind (PIK). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount after tax and reclassification adjustments of gain (loss) on foreign currency translation adjustments, foreign currency transactions designated and effective as economic hedges of a net investment in a foreign entity and intra-entity foreign currency transactions that are of a long-term-investment nature. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate share number for all nonredeemable preferred stock (or preferred stock redeemable solely at the option of the issuer) held by stockholders. Does not include preferred shares that have been repurchased. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The consolidated profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, including the portion attributable to the noncontrolling interest. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of new stock issued during the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number, after forfeiture, of shares or units issued under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes shares or units issued under employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Equity impact of the value of new stock issued during the period. Includes shares issued in an initial public offering or a secondary public offering. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Value, after forfeiture, of shares issued under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of shares that have been repurchased and retired during the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Equity impact of the value of stock that has been repurchased and retired during the period. The excess of the purchase price over par value can be charged against retained earnings (once the excess is fully allocated to additional paid in capital). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of stockholders' equity (deficit), net of receivables from officers, directors, owners, and affiliates of the entity, attributable to both the parent and noncontrolling interests. Amount excludes temporary equity. Alternate caption for the concept is permanent equity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
General |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 | |
| General | |
| General | General The information contained in the following notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements is condensed from that which would appear in the annual consolidated financial statements; accordingly, the condensed consolidated financial statements included herein should be reviewed in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, and related notes thereto, included in the 2018 Form 10-K filed by Crown Castle International Corp. ("CCIC") with the SEC. Capitalized terms used but not defined in these notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements have the same meaning given to them in our 2018 Form 10-K. References to the "Company" include CCIC and its predecessor, as applicable, and their subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated or the context indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term "including," and any variation thereof means "including without limitation." The use of the word "or" herein is not exclusive. Unless the context suggests otherwise, references to "U.S." are to the United States of America and Puerto Rico, collectively. The Company owns, operates and leases shared communications infrastructure that is geographically dispersed throughout the U.S., including (1) towers and other structures, such as rooftops (collectively, "towers"), and (2) fiber primarily supporting small cell networks ("small cells") and fiber solutions. The Company's towers, fiber and small cells assets are collectively referred to herein as "communications infrastructure," and the Company's customers on its communications infrastructure are referred to herein as "tenants." The Company's core business is providing access, including space or capacity, to its shared communications infrastructure via long-term contracts in various forms, including lease, license, sublease and service agreements (collectively, "contracts"). The Company's operating segments consist of (1) Towers and (2) Fiber. See note 11. As part of the Company's effort to provide comprehensive communications infrastructure solutions, the Company offers certain services primarily relating to the Company's towers and small cells, predominately consisting of (1) site development services primarily relating to existing or new tenant equipment installations, including: site acquisition, architectural and engineering, or zoning and permitting (collectively, "site development services") and (2) tenant equipment installation or subsequent augmentations (collectively, "installation services"). The vast majority of the Company's services relate to its Towers segment. The Company operates as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In addition, the Company has certain taxable REIT subsidiaries ("TRSs"). See note 6. 53% of the Company's towers are leased or subleased or operated and managed under master leases, subleases, and other agreements with AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. The Company has the option to purchase these towers at the end of their respective lease terms. The Company has no obligation to exercise such purchase options. Basis of Presentation The condensed consolidated financial statements included herein are unaudited; however, they include all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) which, in the opinion of management, are necessary to state fairly the consolidated financial position of the Company at September 30, 2019, the condensed consolidated results of operations for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, and the condensed consolidated cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018. The year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition n/a No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The entire disclosure for organization, consolidation and basis of presentation of financial statements disclosure. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 | |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Significant Accounting Policies | Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements Lease Accounting — Summary of Adoption Impact. Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted new guidance on the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases (commonly referred to as "ASC 842" or the "new lease standard"). The new lease standard requires lessees to recognize a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments for all leases, and a corresponding right-of-use ("ROU") asset. The accounting for lessors remained largely unchanged from previous guidance. Due to the recognition of the lease liability and a corresponding ROU asset, the new lease standard had a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Additionally, certain amounts related to our lessee arrangements that were previously reported separately have been de-recognized and reclassified into "Operating lease right-of-use assets" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. These amounts include (1) the Company's liability related to straight-line expense, formerly referred to as "Deferred ground lease payable" and previously included in "Other accrued liabilities" and "Other long-term liabilities," (2) prepaid rent expense previously included in "Prepaid expenses" and "Long-term prepaid rent and other assets, net," (3) below market leases previously included in "Other intangible assets, net," and (4) above market leases previously included in "Other long-term liabilities." Notwithstanding the material impact to the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet, the Company's adoption of the new lease standard did not have a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated statement of operations or statement of cash flows. Additionally, the adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Company's operating practices, cash flows, contractual arrangements, or debt agreements (including compliance with any applicable covenants). Lease Accounting — General. The Company adopted the new lease standard using a modified retrospective approach as of the effective date (i.e., January 1, 2019), without adjusting the comparative periods. The Company's adoption of the new lease standard did not result in a cumulative-effect adjustment being recognized to the opening balance of retained earnings. The new lease standard provides a package of practical expedients, whereby companies can elect not to reassess (if applicable), (1) whether existing contracts contain leases under the new definition of a lease, (2) lease classification for expired or existing leases and (3) whether previously capitalized initial direct costs would qualify for capitalization under ASC 842. The Company elected the package of practical expedients upon adoption. The Company evaluates whether a contract meets the definition of a lease whenever a contract grants a party the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. To the extent the identified asset is able to be shared among multiple parties, the Company has determined that one party does not have control of the identified asset and the contract is not considered a lease. The Company accounts for contracts that do not meet the definition of a lease under other relevant accounting guidance (such as ASC 606 for revenue from contracts with customers). Lease Accounting — Lessee. For its Tower segment, the Company's lessee arrangements primarily consist of ground leases for land under towers. Ground leases for land are specific to each site, generally contain an initial term of five to 10 years and are renewable (and cancelable after a notice period) at the Company's option. The Company also enters into term easements and ground leases in which it prepays the entire term. For its Fiber segment, the Company's lessee arrangements primarily include leases of fiber assets to support the Company's small cells and fiber solutions. The majority of the Company's lease agreements have certain termination rights that provide for cancellation after a notice period and multiple renewal options at the Company's option. The Company includes renewal option periods in its calculation of the estimated lease term when it determines the options are reasonably certain to be exercised. When such renewal options are deemed to be reasonably certain, the estimated lease term determined under ASC 842 will be greater than the non-cancelable term of the contractual arrangement. Although certain renewal periods are included in the estimated lease term, the Company would have the ability to terminate or elect to not renew a particular lease if business conditions warrant such a decision. The Company classifies its lessee arrangements at inception as either operating leases or finance leases. A lease is classified as a finance lease if at least one of the following criteria is met: (1) the lease transfers ownership of the underlying asset to the lessee, (2) the lease grants the lessee an option to purchase the underlying asset that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise, (3) the lease term is for a major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset, (4) the present value of the sum of the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the underlying asset, or (5) the underlying asset is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term. A lease is classified as an operating lease if none of the five criteria described above for finance lease classification is met. ROU assets associated with operating leases are included in "Operating lease right-of-use assets" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Current and long-term portions of lease liabilities related to operating leases are included in "Current portion of operating lease liabilities" and "Operating lease liabilities" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. ROU assets represent the Company's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company's present value of its future lease payments. In assessing its leases and determining its lease liability at lease commencement or upon modification, the Company was not able to readily determine the rate implicit for its lessee arrangements, and thus has used its incremental borrowing rate on a collateralized basis to determine the present value of the lease payments. The Company's ROU assets are measured as the balance of the lease liability plus any prepaid or accrued lease payments and any unamortized initial direct costs. For both the Towers and Fiber segments, operating lease expenses are recognized on a ratable basis, regardless of whether the payment terms require the Company to make payments annually, quarterly, monthly, or for the entire term in advance. Certain of the Company's ground lease and fiber lease agreements contain fixed escalation clauses (such as fixed dollar or fixed percentage increases) or inflation-based escalation clauses (such as those tied to the change in CPI). If the payment terms include fixed escalator provisions, the effect of such increases is recognized on a straight-line basis. The Company calculates the straight-line expense over the contract's estimated lease term, including any renewal option periods that the Company deems reasonably certain to be exercised. Lease agreements may also contain provisions for a contingent payment based on (1) the revenues derived from the communications infrastructure located on the leased asset, (2) the change in CPI or (3) the usage of the leased asset. The Company's contingent payments are considered variable lease payments and are (1) not included in the initial measurement of the ROU asset or lease liability due to the uncertainty of the payment amount and (2) recorded as expense in the period such contingencies are resolved. ROU assets associated with finance leases are included in "Property and equipment, net" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Lease liabilities associated with finance leases are included in "Current maturities of debt and other obligations" and "Debt and other long-term obligations" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. For both its Towers and Fiber segments, the Company measures the lease liability for finance leases using the effective interest method. The initial lease liability is increased to reflect interest on the liability and decreased to reflect payments made during the period. Interest on the lease liability is determined each period during the lease term as the amount that results in a constant periodic discount rate on the remaining balance of the liability. The Company measures ROU assets for finance leases on a ratable basis over the applicable lease term. Lease Accounting — Lessor. The Company's lessor arrangements primarily include contracts for dedicated space (including dedicated fiber) on its shared communications infrastructure. The Company classifies its leases at inception as operating, direct financing or sales-type leases. A lease is classified as a sales-type lease if at least one of the following criteria is met: (1) the lease transfers ownership of the underlying asset to the lessee, (2) the lease grants the lessee an option to purchase the underlying asset that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise, (3) the lease term is for a major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset, (4) the present value of the sum of the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the underlying assets or (5) the underlying asset is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term. Furthermore, when none of the above criteria is met, a lease is classified as a direct financing lease if both of the following criteria are met: (1) the present value of the of the sum of the lease payments and any residual value guaranteed by the lessee, that is not already reflected in the lease payments, equals or exceeds the fair value of the underlying asset and (2) it is probable that the lessor will collect the lease payments plus any amount necessary to satisfy a residual value guarantee. A lease is classified as an operating lease if it does not qualify as a sales-type or direct financing lease. Currently, the Company classifies all of its lessor arrangements as operating leases. Site rental revenues from the Company’s lessor arrangements are recognized on a straight-line, ratable basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the relevant contract, regardless of whether the payments from the tenant are received in equal monthly amounts during the life of a contract. Certain of the Company's contracts contain fixed escalation clauses (such as fixed-dollar or fixed-percentage increases) or inflation-based escalation clauses (such as those tied to the change in CPI). If the payment terms call for fixed elements, such as fixed escalations, upfront payments, or rent-free periods, the rental revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the agreement. When calculating straight-line site rental revenues, the Company considers all fixed elements of tenant contractual escalation provisions. Certain of the Company's arrangements with tenants in its Fiber segment contain both lease and non-lease components. In such circumstances, the Company has determined (1) the timing and pattern of transfer for the lease and non-lease component are the same, and (2) the stand-alone lease component would be classified as an operating lease. As such, the Company has aggregated certain non-lease components with lease components and has determined that the lease components (generally dedicated fiber) represent the predominant component of the arrangement. See notes 3 and 9 for further information. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted No new accounting pronouncements issued but not yet adopted are expected to have a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements.
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- References No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for all significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Revenues (Notes) |
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| Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block] | Revenues Site rental revenues The Company generates site rental revenues from its core business by providing tenants with access, including space or capacity, to its shared communications infrastructure via long-term contracts in various forms, including lease, license, sublease and service agreements. Providing such access over the length of the contract term represents the Company’s sole performance obligation under its site rental contracts. Site rental revenues from the Company’s contracts are recognized on a straight-line, ratable basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the relevant contract, which generally ranges from five to 15 years for wireless tenants and three to 20 years related to the Company's fiber solutions tenants (including from organizations with high-bandwidth and multi-location demands), regardless of whether the payments from the tenant are received in equal monthly amounts during the life of a contract. Certain of the Company's contracts contain (1) fixed escalation clauses (such as fixed-dollar or fixed-percentage increases) or inflation-based escalation clauses (such as those tied to the consumer price index), (2) multiple renewal periods at the tenant's option, and (3) only limited termination rights at the applicable tenant's option through the current term. If the payment terms call for fixed escalations, upfront payments, or rent-free periods, the revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the agreement. When calculating straight-line rental revenues, the Company considers all fixed elements of tenant contractual escalation provisions, even if such escalation provisions contain a variable element in addition to a minimum. The Company's assets related to straight-line site rental revenues include current amounts of $107 million included in "Other current assets" and non-current amounts of $1.4 billion included in "Deferred site rental receivables" as of September 30, 2019. Amounts billed or received prior to being earned are deferred and reflected in "Deferred revenues" and "Other long-term liabilities." Amounts to which the Company has an unconditional right to payment, which are related to both satisfied or partially satisfied performance obligations, are recorded within "Receivables, net" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Services and other revenues As part of the Company’s effort to provide comprehensive communications infrastructure solutions, the Company offers certain services, primarily relating to its towers and small cells, predominately consisting of (1) site development services and (2) installation services. Upon contract commencement, the Company assesses its services to tenants and identifies performance obligations for each promise to provide a distinct service. The Company may have multiple performance obligations for site development services, which primarily include: structural analysis, zoning, permitting and construction drawings. For each of the above performance obligations, service revenues are recognized at completion of the applicable performance obligation, which represents the point at which the Company believes it has transferred goods or services to the tenant. The revenue recognized is based on an allocation of the transaction price among the performance obligations in a respective contract based on estimated standalone selling price. The volume and mix of site development services may vary among contracts and may include a combination of some or all of the above performance obligations. Payments generally are due within 45 to 60 days and generally do not contain variable-consideration provisions. The Company has one performance obligation for installation services, which is satisfied at the time of the respective installation or augmentation. Since performance obligations are typically satisfied prior to receiving payment from tenants, the unconditional right to payment is recorded within "Receivables, net" on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet. The vast majority of the Company's services relates to the Company's Towers segment, and generally have a duration of one year or less. Additional information on revenues As of both January 1, 2019 and September 30, 2019, $2.3 billion of unrecognized revenue was reported in "Deferred revenues" and "Other long-term liabilities" on our condensed consolidated balance sheet. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, approximately $320 million of the January 1, 2019 unrecognized revenue balance was recognized as revenue. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018, approximately $310 million of the January 1, 2018 unrecognized revenue balance was recognized as revenue. The following table is a summary of the non-cancelable contracted amounts owed to the Company by tenants pursuant to site rental contracts in effect as of September 30, 2019.
See note 11 for further information regarding the Company's operating segments and note 9 for further discussion regarding the Company's lessor arrangements.
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- References No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure of revenue from contract with customer to transfer good or service and to transfer nonfinancial asset. Includes, but is not limited to, disaggregation of revenue, credit loss recognized from contract with customer, judgment and change in judgment related to contract with customer, and asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer. Excludes insurance and lease contracts. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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Debt and Other Obligations |
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| Debt and Other Obligations | Debt and Other Obligations The table below sets forth the Company's debt and other obligations as of September 30, 2019.
5.200% senior unsecured notes due February 2049. The Company used the net proceeds of the February 2019 Senior Notes offering to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the 2016 Revolver.
Contractual Maturities The following are the scheduled contractual maturities of the total debt and other long-term obligations of the Company outstanding as of September 30, 2019. These maturities reflect contractual maturity dates and do not consider the principal payments that will commence following the anticipated repayment dates on the Tower Revenue Notes.
Interest Expense and Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs The components of interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs are as follows:
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- Definition Debt and Other Obligations [Abstract} No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for debt and capital lease obligations can be reported. Information about short-term and long-term debt arrangements, which includes amounts of borrowings under each line of credit, note payable, commercial paper issue, bonds indenture, debenture issue, own-share lending arrangements and any other contractual agreement to repay funds, and about the underlying arrangements, rationale for a classification as long-term, including repayment terms, interest rates, collateral provided, restrictions on use of assets and activities, whether or not in compliance with debt covenants, and other matters important to users of the financial statements, such as the effects of refinancing and noncompliance with debt covenants. Also includes descriptions and amounts of capital leasing arrangements that consist of direct financing, sales type and leveraged leases. Disclosure may include the effect on the balance sheet and the income statement resulting from a change in lease classification for leases that at inception would have been classified differently had guidance been in effect at the inception of the original lease. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Fair Value Disclosures |
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| Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fair Value Disclosures | Fair Value Disclosures
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- References No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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Income Taxes |
9 Months Ended |
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| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Income Taxes | Income Taxes The Company operates as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, the Company is generally entitled to a deduction for dividends that it pays and therefore is not subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on its net taxable income that is currently distributed to its stockholders. The Company also may be subject to certain federal, state, local and foreign taxes on its income and assets, including (1) taxes on any undistributed income, (2) taxes related to the TRSs, (3) franchise taxes, (4) property taxes, and (5) transfer taxes. In addition, the Company could in certain circumstances be required to pay an excise or penalty tax, which could be significant in amount, in order to utilize one or more relief provisions under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, to maintain qualification for taxation as a REIT. The Company's TRS assets and operations will continue to be subject, as applicable, to federal and state corporate income taxes or to foreign taxes in the jurisdictions in which such assets and operations are located. The Company's foreign assets and operations (including its tower operations in Puerto Rico) are subject to foreign income taxes in the jurisdictions in which such assets and operations are located, regardless of whether they are included in a TRS or not. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company's effective tax rate differed from the federal statutory rate predominately due to the Company's REIT status, including the dividends paid deduction.
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- References No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for income taxes. Disclosures may include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Per Share Information |
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| Earnings Per Share [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Per Share Information | Per Share Information Basic net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders, per common share, excludes dilution and is computed by dividing net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, diluted net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders, per common share, is computed by dividing net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period, plus any potential dilutive common share equivalents, including shares issuable upon (1) the vesting of restricted stock units as determined under the treasury stock method and (2) conversion of the Company's 6.875% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, as determined under the if-converted method.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company granted one million restricted stock units. For both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, 14 million common share equivalents related to the 6.875% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock were excluded from the dilutive common shares because the impact of such conversion would be anti-dilutive, based on the Company's common stock price as of September 30, 2019.
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- References No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for earnings per share. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Commitments and Contingencies |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2019 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies The Company is involved in various claims, lawsuits or proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. While there are uncertainties inherent in the ultimate outcome of such matters and it is impossible to presently determine the ultimate costs or losses that may be incurred, if any, management believes the resolution of such uncertainties and the incurrence of such costs should not have a material adverse effect on the Company's condensed consolidated financial position or results of operations. Additionally, the Company and certain of its subsidiaries are contingently liable for commitments or performance guarantees arising in the ordinary course of business, including certain letters of credit or surety bonds. In addition, the Company has the option to purchase 53% of the Company's towers at the end of their respective lease terms. The Company has no obligation to exercise such purchase options. Other Matter In September 2019, the Company received a subpoena from the SEC requesting certain documents from 2015 through the present, primarily related to the Company's long-standing capitalization and expense policies for tenant upgrades and installations in its services business. Prior to receiving this subpoena, the Company previously provided information to the SEC related to certain services-related transactions. The Company is cooperating fully with the SEC's investigation and cannot predict the ultimate timing, scope or outcome of this matter.
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- References No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Leases (Notes) |
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| Leases [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leases | Leases The following information is presented with respect to the Company's contracts that are subject to the new lease accounting standard and is exclusive of those contracts outside the scope of that standard. Lessor Tenant Leases See note 3 for further information regarding the contractual amounts owed to the Company pursuant to site rental contracts in effect as of September 30, 2019 and other information. Lessee Operating Leases The components of the Company's operating lease expense are as follows:
Lessee Finance Leases The vast majority of the Company's finance leases are related to the towers subject to prepaid master lease agreements with AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile and are recorded as "Property and equipment, net" on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. See note 1 for further discussion of the Company's prepaid master lease agreements and note 2 for further information regarding the Company's adoption method of the new lease standard. Finance leases and associated leasehold improvements related to gross property and equipment and accumulated depreciation were $4.4 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively, as of September 30, 2019. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company recorded $55 million and $163 million, respectively, to "Depreciation, amortization and accretion" related to finance leases. Other Lessee Information As of September 30, 2019, the Company's weighted-average remaining lease term and weighted-average discount rate for operating leases were 17 years and 4.4%, respectively. The following table is a summary of the Company's maturities of operating lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019:
Comparative Information from 2018 Form 10-K The Company adopted ASC 842 using a modified retrospective approach as of the effective date, without adjusting the comparative periods and therefore, as required by ASC 842, has included the following comparative information from note 14 to the consolidated financial statements in its 2018 Form 10-K. The operating lease payments included in the table below include payments for certain renewal periods at the Company's option that are deemed reasonably assured to be exercised and an estimate of contingent payments based on revenues and gross margins derived from existing tenant leases.
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- Definition This disclosure represents the Company’s Lease footnote (operating and financing leases) No definition available.
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- References No definition available.
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Equity |
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| Equity [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity | Equity Declaration and Payment of Dividends During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the following dividends/distributions were declared or paid:
Purchases of the Company's Common Stock For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company purchased 0.4 million shares of its common stock utilizing $44 million in cash. The shares of common stock purchased relate to shares withheld in connection with the payment of withholding taxes upon vesting of restricted stock units. 2018 "At-the-Market" Stock Offering Program In April 2018, the Company established an "at-the-market" stock offering program through which it may issue and sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $750 million ("2018 ATM Program"). Sales under the 2018 ATM Program may be made by means of ordinary brokers' transactions on the NYSE or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to prevailing market prices or, subject to our specific instructions, at negotiated prices. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from any sales under the 2018 ATM Program for general corporate purposes, which may include (1) the funding of future acquisitions or investments or (2) the repayment or repurchase of any outstanding indebtedness. The Company has not sold any shares of common stock under the 2018 ATM Program. See also note 13.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for shareholders' equity comprised of portions attributable to the parent entity and noncontrolling interest, including other comprehensive income. Includes, but is not limited to, balances of common stock, preferred stock, additional paid-in capital, other capital and retained earnings, accumulated balance for each classification of other comprehensive income and amount of comprehensive income. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Operating Segments |
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| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Segments | Operating Segments The Company's operating segments consist of (1) Towers and (2) Fiber. The Towers segment provides access, including space or capacity, to the Company's approximately 40,000 towers geographically dispersed throughout the U.S. The Towers segment also reflects certain services relating to the Company's towers, consisting of site development services and installation services. The Fiber segment provides access, including space or capacity, to the Company's approximately 75,000 route miles of fiber primarily supporting small cell networks and fiber solutions geographically dispersed throughout the U.S. The measurements of profit or loss used by the Company's chief operating decision maker to evaluate the performance of its operating segments are (1) segment site rental gross margin, (2) segment services and other gross margin and (3) segment operating profit. The Company defines segment site rental gross margin as segment site rental revenues less segment site rental cost of operations, which excludes stock-based compensation expense and prepaid lease purchase price adjustments recorded in consolidated cost of operations. The Company defines segment services and other gross margin as segment services and other revenues less segment services and other cost of operations, which excludes stock-based compensation expense recorded in consolidated cost of operations. The Company defines segment operating profit as segment site rental gross margin plus segment services and other gross margin, less selling, general and administrative expenses attributable to the respective segment. All of these measurements of profit or loss are exclusive of depreciation, amortization and accretion, which are shown separately. The following tables set forth the Company's segment operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, and the respective comparative periods. Costs that are directly attributable to Towers and Fiber are assigned to those respective segments. Additionally, certain costs are shared across segments and are reflected in the Company's segment measures through allocations that management believes to be reasonable. The "Other" column (1) represents amounts excluded from specific segments, such as asset write-down charges, acquisition and integration costs, depreciation, amortization and accretion, amortization of prepaid lease purchase price adjustments, interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs, gains (losses) on retirement of long-term obligations, net gain (loss) on interest rate swaps, gains (losses) on foreign currency swaps, interest income, other income (expense), income (loss) from discontinued operations, and stock-based compensation expense, and (2) reconciles segment operating profit to income (loss) before income taxes, as the amounts are not utilized in assessing each segment’s performance. The "Other" total assets balance includes corporate assets such as cash and cash equivalents which have not been allocated to specific segments. There are no significant revenues resulting from transactions between the Company's operating segments.
(c) See condensed consolidated statement of operations for further information.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Supplemental Cash Flow Information |
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| Supplemental Cash Flow Information | Supplemental Cash Flow Information The following table is a summary of the Company's supplemental cash flow information:
The reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within various lines on the condensed consolidated balance sheet to amounts reported in the condensed consolidated statement of cash flows is shown below.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for supplemental cash flow activities, including cash, noncash, and part noncash transactions, for the period. Noncash is defined as information about all investing and financing activities of an enterprise during a period that affect recognized assets or liabilities but that do not result in cash receipts or cash payments in the period. "Part noncash" refers to that portion of the transaction not resulting in cash receipts or cash payments in the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Subsequent Events (Notes) |
3 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2019 | |
| Subsequent Event [Line Items] | |
| Subsequent Events [Text Block] | Subsequent Events Common Stock Dividend On October 14, 2019, the Company's board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.20 per common share. The quarterly dividend will be payable on December 31, 2019, to common stockholders of record as of December 13, 2019.
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- Definition Detail information of subsequent event by type. User is expected to use existing line items from elsewhere in the taxonomy as the primary line items for this disclosure, which is further associated with dimension and member elements pertaining to a subsequent event. No definition available.
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- Definition The entire disclosure for significant events or transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date through the date the financial statements were issued or the date the financial statements were available to be issued. Examples include: the sale of a capital stock issue, purchase of a business, settlement of litigation, catastrophic loss, significant foreign exchange rate changes, loans to insiders or affiliates, and transactions not in the ordinary course of business. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) |
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| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Recent accounting prounouncements | Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements Lease Accounting — Summary of Adoption Impact. Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted new guidance on the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases (commonly referred to as "ASC 842" or the "new lease standard"). The new lease standard requires lessees to recognize a lease liability, initially measured at the present value of the lease payments for all leases, and a corresponding right-of-use ("ROU") asset. The accounting for lessors remained largely unchanged from previous guidance. Due to the recognition of the lease liability and a corresponding ROU asset, the new lease standard had a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Additionally, certain amounts related to our lessee arrangements that were previously reported separately have been de-recognized and reclassified into "Operating lease right-of-use assets" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. These amounts include (1) the Company's liability related to straight-line expense, formerly referred to as "Deferred ground lease payable" and previously included in "Other accrued liabilities" and "Other long-term liabilities," (2) prepaid rent expense previously included in "Prepaid expenses" and "Long-term prepaid rent and other assets, net," (3) below market leases previously included in "Other intangible assets, net," and (4) above market leases previously included in "Other long-term liabilities." Notwithstanding the material impact to the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet, the Company's adoption of the new lease standard did not have a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated statement of operations or statement of cash flows. Additionally, the adoption of this guidance had no impact on the Company's operating practices, cash flows, contractual arrangements, or debt agreements (including compliance with any applicable covenants). Lease Accounting — General. The Company adopted the new lease standard using a modified retrospective approach as of the effective date (i.e., January 1, 2019), without adjusting the comparative periods. The Company's adoption of the new lease standard did not result in a cumulative-effect adjustment being recognized to the opening balance of retained earnings. The new lease standard provides a package of practical expedients, whereby companies can elect not to reassess (if applicable), (1) whether existing contracts contain leases under the new definition of a lease, (2) lease classification for expired or existing leases and (3) whether previously capitalized initial direct costs would qualify for capitalization under ASC 842. The Company elected the package of practical expedients upon adoption. The Company evaluates whether a contract meets the definition of a lease whenever a contract grants a party the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. To the extent the identified asset is able to be shared among multiple parties, the Company has determined that one party does not have control of the identified asset and the contract is not considered a lease. The Company accounts for contracts that do not meet the definition of a lease under other relevant accounting guidance (such as ASC 606 for revenue from contracts with customers). Lease Accounting — Lessee. For its Tower segment, the Company's lessee arrangements primarily consist of ground leases for land under towers. Ground leases for land are specific to each site, generally contain an initial term of five to 10 years and are renewable (and cancelable after a notice period) at the Company's option. The Company also enters into term easements and ground leases in which it prepays the entire term. For its Fiber segment, the Company's lessee arrangements primarily include leases of fiber assets to support the Company's small cells and fiber solutions. The majority of the Company's lease agreements have certain termination rights that provide for cancellation after a notice period and multiple renewal options at the Company's option. The Company includes renewal option periods in its calculation of the estimated lease term when it determines the options are reasonably certain to be exercised. When such renewal options are deemed to be reasonably certain, the estimated lease term determined under ASC 842 will be greater than the non-cancelable term of the contractual arrangement. Although certain renewal periods are included in the estimated lease term, the Company would have the ability to terminate or elect to not renew a particular lease if business conditions warrant such a decision. The Company classifies its lessee arrangements at inception as either operating leases or finance leases. A lease is classified as a finance lease if at least one of the following criteria is met: (1) the lease transfers ownership of the underlying asset to the lessee, (2) the lease grants the lessee an option to purchase the underlying asset that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise, (3) the lease term is for a major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset, (4) the present value of the sum of the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the underlying asset, or (5) the underlying asset is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term. A lease is classified as an operating lease if none of the five criteria described above for finance lease classification is met. ROU assets associated with operating leases are included in "Operating lease right-of-use assets" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Current and long-term portions of lease liabilities related to operating leases are included in "Current portion of operating lease liabilities" and "Operating lease liabilities" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. ROU assets represent the Company's right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company's present value of its future lease payments. In assessing its leases and determining its lease liability at lease commencement or upon modification, the Company was not able to readily determine the rate implicit for its lessee arrangements, and thus has used its incremental borrowing rate on a collateralized basis to determine the present value of the lease payments. The Company's ROU assets are measured as the balance of the lease liability plus any prepaid or accrued lease payments and any unamortized initial direct costs. For both the Towers and Fiber segments, operating lease expenses are recognized on a ratable basis, regardless of whether the payment terms require the Company to make payments annually, quarterly, monthly, or for the entire term in advance. Certain of the Company's ground lease and fiber lease agreements contain fixed escalation clauses (such as fixed dollar or fixed percentage increases) or inflation-based escalation clauses (such as those tied to the change in CPI). If the payment terms include fixed escalator provisions, the effect of such increases is recognized on a straight-line basis. The Company calculates the straight-line expense over the contract's estimated lease term, including any renewal option periods that the Company deems reasonably certain to be exercised. Lease agreements may also contain provisions for a contingent payment based on (1) the revenues derived from the communications infrastructure located on the leased asset, (2) the change in CPI or (3) the usage of the leased asset. The Company's contingent payments are considered variable lease payments and are (1) not included in the initial measurement of the ROU asset or lease liability due to the uncertainty of the payment amount and (2) recorded as expense in the period such contingencies are resolved. ROU assets associated with finance leases are included in "Property and equipment, net" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. Lease liabilities associated with finance leases are included in "Current maturities of debt and other obligations" and "Debt and other long-term obligations" on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheet. For both its Towers and Fiber segments, the Company measures the lease liability for finance leases using the effective interest method. The initial lease liability is increased to reflect interest on the liability and decreased to reflect payments made during the period. Interest on the lease liability is determined each period during the lease term as the amount that results in a constant periodic discount rate on the remaining balance of the liability. The Company measures ROU assets for finance leases on a ratable basis over the applicable lease term. Lease Accounting — Lessor. The Company's lessor arrangements primarily include contracts for dedicated space (including dedicated fiber) on its shared communications infrastructure. The Company classifies its leases at inception as operating, direct financing or sales-type leases. A lease is classified as a sales-type lease if at least one of the following criteria is met: (1) the lease transfers ownership of the underlying asset to the lessee, (2) the lease grants the lessee an option to purchase the underlying asset that the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise, (3) the lease term is for a major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset, (4) the present value of the sum of the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the underlying assets or (5) the underlying asset is of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term. Furthermore, when none of the above criteria is met, a lease is classified as a direct financing lease if both of the following criteria are met: (1) the present value of the of the sum of the lease payments and any residual value guaranteed by the lessee, that is not already reflected in the lease payments, equals or exceeds the fair value of the underlying asset and (2) it is probable that the lessor will collect the lease payments plus any amount necessary to satisfy a residual value guarantee. A lease is classified as an operating lease if it does not qualify as a sales-type or direct financing lease. Currently, the Company classifies all of its lessor arrangements as operating leases. Site rental revenues from the Company’s lessor arrangements are recognized on a straight-line, ratable basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the relevant contract, regardless of whether the payments from the tenant are received in equal monthly amounts during the life of a contract. Certain of the Company's contracts contain fixed escalation clauses (such as fixed-dollar or fixed-percentage increases) or inflation-based escalation clauses (such as those tied to the change in CPI). If the payment terms call for fixed elements, such as fixed escalations, upfront payments, or rent-free periods, the rental revenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the fixed, non-cancelable term of the agreement. When calculating straight-line site rental revenues, the Company considers all fixed elements of tenant contractual escalation provisions. Certain of the Company's arrangements with tenants in its Fiber segment contain both lease and non-lease components. In such circumstances, the Company has determined (1) the timing and pattern of transfer for the lease and non-lease component are the same, and (2) the stand-alone lease component would be classified as an operating lease. As such, the Company has aggregated certain non-lease components with lease components and has determined that the lease components (generally dedicated fiber) represent the predominant component of the arrangement. See notes 3 and 9 for further information. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted No new accounting pronouncements issued but not yet adopted are expected to have a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements.
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- Definition Disclosure of accounting policy pertaining to new accounting pronouncements that may impact the entity's financial reporting. Includes, but is not limited to, quantification of the expected or actual impact. No definition available.
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Revenues (Tables) |
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| Schedule of Contractual Revenue | The following table is a summary of the non-cancelable contracted amounts owed to the Company by tenants pursuant to site rental contracts in effect as of September 30, 2019.
(a) Based on the nature of the contract, site rental contracts are accounted for pursuant to relevant lease accounting (ASC 842) or revenue accounting (ASC 606) guidance. Excludes amounts related to services, as those contracts generally have a duration of one year or less.
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of expected timing for satisfying remaining performance obligation. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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Debt and Other Obligations (Tables) |
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| Schedule of Long-Term Debt Instruments | The table below sets forth the Company's debt and other obligations as of September 30, 2019.
5.200% senior unsecured notes due February 2049. The Company used the net proceeds of the February 2019 Senior Notes offering to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the 2016 Revolver.
(i) In August 2019, the Company issued $900 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes ("August 2019 Senior Notes"), which consisted of (1) $550 million aggregate principal amount of 3.100% senior unsecured notes due November 2029 and (2) $350 million aggregate principal amount of 4.000% senior unsecured notes due November 2049. The Company used the net proceeds of the August 2019 Senior Notes offering to repay outstanding borrowings under the 2016 Revolver and CP Program.
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| Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt | Contractual Maturities The following are the scheduled contractual maturities of the total debt and other long-term obligations of the Company outstanding as of September 30, 2019. These maturities reflect contractual maturity dates and do not consider the principal payments that will commence following the anticipated repayment dates on the Tower Revenue Notes.
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| Components of Interest Expense and Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs | Interest Expense and Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs The components of interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs are as follows:
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of information pertaining to short-term and long-debt instruments or arrangements, including but not limited to identification of terms, features, collateral requirements and other information necessary to a fair presentation. No definition available.
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the combined aggregate amount of maturities and sinking fund requirements for all long-term borrowings for each of the five years following the date of the latest balance sheet date presented. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Fair Value Disclosures (Tables) |
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| Estimated Fair Values and Carrying Amounts of Assets and Liabilities |
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the fair value of financial instruments, including financial assets and financial liabilities, and the measurements of those instruments, assets, and liabilities. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Per Share Information (Tables) |
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Sep. 30, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Earnings Per Share [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reconciliation of the Numerators and Denominators of the Basic and Diluted Per Share Computations |
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of an entity's basic and diluted earnings per share calculations, including a reconciliation of numerators and denominators of the basic and diluted per-share computations for income from continuing operations. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Leases (Tables) |
9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sep. 30, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leases [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lease, Cost | Lessee Operating Leases The components of the Company's operating lease expense are as follows:
(c) Excludes those direct operating expenses accounted for pursuant to accounting guidance outside the scope of ASC 842.
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| Lease Maturities (5 year table) | The following table is a summary of the Company's maturities of operating lease liabilities as of September 30, 2019:
(a) Excludes the Company's contingent payments for operating leases (such as payments based on revenues derived from the communications infrastructure located on the leased asset) as such arrangements are excluded from the Company's operating lease liability. Such contingencies are recognized as expense in the period they are resolved.
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| Schedule of Rent Expense | The operating lease payments included in the table below include payments for certain renewal periods at the Company's option that are deemed reasonably assured to be exercised and an estimate of contingent payments based on revenues and gross margins derived from existing tenant leases.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of lessee's lease cost. Includes, but is not limited to, interest expense for finance lease, amortization of right-of-use asset for finance lease, operating lease cost, short-term lease cost, variable lease cost and sublease income. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of undiscounted cash flows of lessee's operating lease liability. Includes, but is not limited to, reconciliation of undiscounted cash flows to operating lease liability recognized in statement of financial position. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of rental expense from operating leases for each period for which an income statement is presented with separate amounts for minimum rentals, contingent rentals, and sublease rentals. Rental payments under leases with terms of a month or less that were not renewed need not be included. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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Equity (Tables) |
9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dividends [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dividends Declared | Declaration and Payment of Dividends During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the following dividends/distributions were declared or paid:
(a) Inclusive of dividends accrued for holders of unvested restricted stock units, which will be paid when and if the restricted stock units vest.
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of information related to dividends declared, including paid and unpaid dividends. No definition available.
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Operating Segments Operating Segments (Tables) |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
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| Segment Reporting [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Schedule of Segment Reporting Information, by Segment |
(c) See condensed consolidated statement of operations for further information.
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(c) See condensed consolidated statement of operations for further information.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the profit or loss and total assets for each reportable segment. An entity discloses certain information on each reportable segment if the amounts (a) are included in the measure of segment profit or loss reviewed by the chief operating decision maker or (b) are otherwise regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker, even if not included in that measure of segment profit or loss. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
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Supplemental Cash Flow Information (Tables) |
9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supplemental Cash Flow Information [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supplemental Disclosure of Cash Flow Information and Non-cash Investing and Financing Activities | The following table is a summary of the Company's supplemental cash flow information:
(a) Excludes the Company's contingent payment pursuant to operating leases, which are recorded as expense in the period such contingencies are resolved.
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| Schedule of Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash | The reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within various lines on the condensed consolidated balance sheet to amounts reported in the condensed consolidated statement of cash flows is shown below.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition [Table Text Block] for Schedule of Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash [Table] No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Tabular disclosure of supplemental cash flow information for the periods presented. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
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General Business (Details) |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Subject to Capital Lease with Sprint, TMO, or AT&T [Member] | |
| Purchase Option, Percentage of Towers | 53.00% |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Purchase Option, Percentage of Towers No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Details
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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Significant Accounting Policies (Details) |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 | |
| Minimum [Member] | |
| Ground Lease Agreement Term | five years |
| Maximum [Member] | |
| Ground Lease Agreement Term | 10 years |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition This disclosure represents the term of the Company’s ground lease agreements No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Details
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| X | ||||||||||
- Details
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Revenues (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
9 Months Ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
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| Revenue Recognition Non-cancelable Lease Term for Wireless Tenants | five to 15 years | ||||
| Revenue Recognition for Fiber Solutions Tenants | three to 20 years | ||||
| Revenue, Performance Obligation, Description of Payment Terms | 45 to 60 days | ||||
| Revenue, Remaining Performance Obligation, Amount | $ 2,300 | ||||
| Revenue Recognized on Deferred Revenues | 320 | $ 310 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, remaining three months | [1] | 1,119 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, in Two Years | [1] | 4,085 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, in Three Years | [1] | 3,889 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, in Four Years | [1] | 3,659 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, in Five Years | [1] | 3,051 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, Thereafter | [1] | 8,655 | |||
| Contracted Amounts Receivable from Customers, Total | [1] | 24,458 | |||
| Deferred Revenue [Domain] | |||||
| Deferred Revenue | 1,400 | ||||
| Other Current Assets [Member] | |||||
| Deferred Revenue | $ 107 | ||||
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Revenue Recognition Non-cancelable Lease Term for Wireless Tenants No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Revenue Recognition for Fiber Solutions Tenants No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of revenue recognized that was previously included in balance of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration from customer has been received or is due. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of deferred income and obligation to transfer product and service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future minimum rental payments in aggregate as of the balance sheet date under operating leases. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future rental payments receivable within one year of the balance sheet date under an operating lease. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future rental payments receivable within the fifth year from the balance sheet date under an operating lease. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future rental payments receivable within the fourth year from the balance sheet date under an operating lease. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future rental payments receivable within the third year from the balance sheet date under an operating lease. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future rental payments receivable within the second year from the balance sheet date under an operating lease. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Future minimum lease payments receivable under operating leases for periods greater than five years following the balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Description of payment terms in contract with customer. Includes, but is not limited to, timing of payment, existence of financing component, variability of consideration and constraint on variable consideration. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of transaction price allocated to performance obligation that has not been recognized as revenue. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
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| X | ||||||||||
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Debt and Other Obligations (Indebtedness) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 17,850 | $ 16,682 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: current maturities and short-term debt and other current obligations | 100 | 107 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-current portion of long-term debt and other long-term obligations | 17,750 | 16,575 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 Revolver [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Unused Borrowing Capacity, Amount | 4,600 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line of Credit Facility, Increase (Decrease), Net | $ 750 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity | $ 5,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 Tower Revenue Notes 3.222% due 2042 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | 300 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 Tower Revenue Notes 3.663% due 2045 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | 700 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 Tower Revenue Notes 3.720% due 2043 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | 250 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 Tower Revenue Notes 4.241% due 2048 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | 750 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital Lease Obligations and Other [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | [1] | $ 233 | 227 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed Rate Securitized Debt July 2018 Tower Revenue Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Increase (Decrease) | 5.00% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2019 Senior Notes [Domain] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $ 900 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | February 2019 Senior Notes [Domain] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $ 1,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | February 2019 Senior Unsecured 4.300% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $ 600 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 4.30% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | February 2019 Senior Unsecured 5.200% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $ 400 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 5.20% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2019 Senior Unsecured 3.100% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $ 550 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 3.10% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2019 Senior Unsecured 4.000% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Face Amount | $ 350 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 4.00% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 3.849% Secured Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.90% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 995 | 994 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 5.250% Senior Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 5.30% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 1,643 | 1,641 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 4.875% Senior Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.90% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 845 | 844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | Senior Unsecured 2016 Notes 3.40% [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.40% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 850 | 850 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | Senior Unsecured 2016 Notes 4.450% [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.50% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 893 | 892 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | Senior Unsecured 2016 Notes 3.7% [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.70% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 744 | 744 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 2.250% Senior Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 2.30% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 698 | 697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 4.000% Senior Unsecured Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.00% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 495 | 494 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 4.750% Senior Unsecured Notes [Member] [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.80% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 343 | 343 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2017 Senior Unsecured 3.200% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.20% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 744 | 743 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2017 Senior Unsecured 3.650% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.70% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 993 | 992 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 3.150% Senior Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.20% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 744 | 742 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | 3.800% Senior Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.80% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 989 | 988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | February 2019 Senior Unsecured 4.300% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.30% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 592 | [3] | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | February 2019 Senior Unsecured 5.200% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 5.20% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 395 | [3] | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2019 Senior Unsecured 3.100% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.10% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 543 | [4] | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High Yield Bonds [Member] | August 2019 Senior Unsecured 4.000% Notes [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.00% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 345 | [4] | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Unsecured Debt [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | 14,571 | 13,399 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 3,279 | 3,283 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | 2015 Tower Revenue Notes 3.222% due 2042 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.20% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | [5] | $ 298 | 298 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | 2015 Tower Revenue Notes 3.663% due 2045 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.70% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | [5] | $ 694 | 693 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | 2018 Tower Revenue Notes 3.720% due 2043 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 3.70% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | [5] | $ 248 | 247 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | 2018 Tower Revenue Notes 4.241% due 2048 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 4.20% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | [5] | $ 742 | 742 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | Fixed Rate Debt 2009 Securitized Notes A-1 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 0 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized Debt [Member] | Fixed Rate Debt 2009 Securitized Notes A-2 [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2] | 9.00% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 69 | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bank Debt [Member] | 2016 Revolver [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2],[6] | 3.10% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 390 | [7],[8] | 1,075 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bank Debt [Member] | 2016 Term Loan A [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | [2],[6] | 3.20% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 2,325 | [8] | 2,354 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Paper [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Paper - Maximum Issued | $ 1,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Maturity Date, Description | 397 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 0 | [9] | $ 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum [Member] | 2016 Revolver [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 1.75% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum [Member] | Capital Lease Obligations and Other [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 10.00% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum [Member] | 2016 Revolver [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line of Credit Facility, Commitment Fee Percentage | 0.35% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum [Member] | Capital Lease Obligations and Other [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument Maturity Date Range | 30 years | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum [Member] | 2016 Revolver [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage | 1.00% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum [Member] | 2016 Revolver [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line of Credit Facility, Commitment Fee Percentage | 0.125% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum [Member] | Capital Lease Obligations and Other [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt Instrument Maturity Date Range | one year | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. No definition available.
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- Definition Description of the maturity date of the debt instrument including whether the debt matures serially and, if so, a brief description of the serial maturities. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition The fee, expressed as a percentage of the line of credit facility, for the line of credit facility regardless of whether the facility has been used. No definition available.
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- Definition Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition Amount of borrowing capacity currently available under the credit facility (current borrowing capacity less the amount of borrowings outstanding). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition Amount of long-term debt and lease obligation, classified as noncurrent. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Debt and Other Obligations (Components of Interest Expense and Amortization of Deferred Financing Costs) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
|
| Debt and Other Obligations [Abstract] | ||||
| Interest Expense, Debt, Excluding Amortization | $ 173 | $ 158 | $ 509 | $ 473 |
| Amortization of deferred financing costs and adjustments on long-term debt | 5 | 5 | 15 | 16 |
| Other, net of capitalized interest | (5) | (3) | (14) | (11) |
| Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs | $ 173 | $ 160 | $ 510 | $ 478 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Debt and Other Obligations [Abstract} No definition available.
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- Definition Amount of amortization expense attributable to debt issuance costs. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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- Definition Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense for debt. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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- Definition Represents the portion of interest incurred in the period on debt arrangements that was charged against earnings, excluding amortization of debt discount (premium) and financing costs. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition Amount of interest expense classified as other. No definition available.
|
Debt and Other Obligations Contractual Maturities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Contractual Maturities [Abstract] | ||
| Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal, Remainder of Fiscal Year | $ 28 | |
| Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two | 99 | |
| Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Three | 1,674 | |
| Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Four | 998 | |
| Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Five | 3,603 | |
| Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal after Year Five | 11,566 | |
| Total Cash Obligations | 17,968 | |
| Unamortized Adjustments, Net | (118) | |
| Debt and Finance Lease Obligations | $ 17,850 | $ 16,682 |
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- Definition Contractual Maturities [Abstract] No definition available.
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- Definition Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing after the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the fourth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the third fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the second fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of long-term debt payable, sinking fund requirements, and other securities issued that are redeemable by holder at fixed or determinable prices and dates maturing in the remainder of the fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Fair Value Disclosures (Estimated Fair Values and Carrying Amounts of Assets and Liabilities) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract] | ||
| Cash and cash equivalents, at carrying value | $ 182 | $ 277 |
| Cash and cash equivalents, fair value | 182 | 277 |
| Restricted Cash | 136 | |
| Restricted Cash Fair Value Disclosure | 143 | 136 |
| Long-term debt and other obligations, carrying amount | 17,850 | 16,682 |
| Long-term debt and other obligations, fair value | $ 18,908 | $ 16,562 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The fair value of cash and cash equivalent items which are restricted as to withdrawal or usage. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Fair value portion of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of short-term and long-term debt and lease obligation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Fair value of obligations measured on a recurring basis. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash restricted as to withdrawal or usage. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, and other accounts with general characteristics of demand deposits. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
|
Per Share Information (Reconciliation of the Numerators and Denominators of the Basic and Diluted Per Share Computations) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
|||
| Earnings Per Share [Abstract] | ||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ 272 | $ 164 | $ 729 | $ 458 | ||
| Dividends/distributions on preferred stock | [1] | (28) | (28) | (85) | (85) | |
| Net income (loss) attributable to CCIC common stockholders for basic and diluted computations | $ 244 | $ 136 | $ 644 | $ 373 | ||
| Basic weighted-average number of common stock outstanding | 416 | 415 | 416 | 413 | ||
| Effect of assumed dilution from potential issuance of common shares relating to restricted stock units | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Diluted weighted-average number of common shares outstanding | 418 | 416 | 418 | 414 | ||
| Basic | $ 0.59 | $ 0.33 | $ 1.55 | $ 0.90 | ||
| Diluted | 0.58 | 0.33 | 1.54 | 0.90 | ||
| Dividends/distributions declared per share of common stock (in dollars per share) | 1.125 | 1.05 | 3.375 | 3.15 | ||
| Dividends/distributions declared per share of preferred stock | $ 17.1875 | $ 17.1875 | $ 51.5625 | $ 51.5625 | ||
| ||||||
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of common stock outstanding. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of paid and unpaid preferred stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash, stock and payment-in-kind (PIK). Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The amount of net income (loss) for the period per each share of common stock or unit outstanding during the reporting period. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The amount of net income (loss) for the period available to each share of common stock or common unit outstanding during the reporting period and to each share or unit that would have been outstanding assuming the issuance of common shares or units for all dilutive potential common shares or units outstanding during the reporting period. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount, after deduction of tax, noncontrolling interests, dividends on preferred stock and participating securities; of income (loss) available to common shareholders. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate dividends declared during the period for each share of preferred stock outstanding. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The consolidated profit or loss for the period, net of income taxes, including the portion attributable to the noncontrolling interest. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The sum of dilutive potential common shares or units used in the calculation of the diluted per-share or per-unit computation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The average number of shares or units issued and outstanding that are used in calculating diluted EPS or earnings per unit (EPU), determined based on the timing of issuance of shares or units in the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of [basic] shares or units, after adjustment for contingently issuable shares or units and other shares or units not deemed outstanding, determined by relating the portion of time within a reporting period that common shares or units have been outstanding to the total time in that period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
Per Share Information (Narrative) (Details) shares in Millions |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
|
Sep. 30, 2019
shares
| |
| Common Stock [Member] | |
| Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items] | |
| Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Restricted Stock Award, Gross | 1,000,000 |
| Preferred Stock [Member] | |
| Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items] | |
| Anti-dilutive securities excluded from dilutive common shares calculation | 14 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Securities (including those issuable pursuant to contingent stock agreements) that could potentially dilute basic earnings per share (EPS) or earnings per unit (EPU) in the future that were not included in the computation of diluted EPS or EPU because to do so would increase EPS or EPU amounts or decrease loss per share or unit amounts for the period presented. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Total number of shares issued during the period, including shares forfeited, as a result of Restricted Stock Awards. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Details
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Details
|
Commitments and Contingencies Commitment and Contingencies (Details) |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Subject to Capital Lease with Sprint, TMO, or AT&T [Member] | |
| Other Commitments [Line Items] | |
| Purchase Option, Percentage of Towers | 53.00% |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Purchase Option, Percentage of Towers No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Details
|
Leases Lessee Operating Lease Cost (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
||||||||
| Leases [Abstract] | |||||||||
| Operating Lease, Expense | [1] | $ 163 | $ 485 | ||||||
| Variable Lease, Cost | [2] | 33 | 98 | ||||||
| Lease, Cost | [3] | $ 196 | $ 583 | ||||||
| |||||||||
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lease cost recognized by lessee for lease contract. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of operating lease expense. Excludes sublease income. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of variable lease cost, excluded from lease liability, recognized when obligation for payment is incurred for finance and operating leases. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
Leases Lessee Finance Leases (Details) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended |
|---|---|---|
|
Sep. 30, 2019
USD ($)
|
Sep. 30, 2019
USD ($)
|
|
| Accumulated Amortization Related to FInance Leases | $ 2,100 | |
| Finance Lease, Right-of-Use Asset, Amortization | $ 55 | 163 |
| Property, Plant and Equipment [Member] | ||
| Finance Lease, Right-of-Use Asset | $ 4,400 | $ 4,400 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Accumulated Amortization Related to Finance Leases No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's right to use underlying asset under finance lease. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of amortization expense attributable to right-of-use asset from finance lease. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Details
|
Leases Other Lessee Information (Details) |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Leases [Abstract] | |
| Operating Lease, Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term | 17 years |
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Discount Rate | 4.40% |
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Discount rate used by lessee to determine present value of operating lease payments. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Weighted average remaining lease term for operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
|
Leases Maturities of Lease Liabilities (Details) $ in Millions |
Sep. 30, 2019
USD ($)
|
[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leases [Abstract] | ||||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due Remainder of Fiscal Year | $ 133 | |||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due Year Two | 534 | |||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due Year Three | 528 | |||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due Year Four | 524 | |||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due Year Five | 520 | |||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due after Year Five | 6,394 | |||
| Lessee, Operating Lease, Liability, Payments, Due | 8,633 | |||
| Inputed Interest | (2,857) | |||
| Operating Lease, Liability | $ 5,776 | |||
| ||||
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease, due after fifth fiscal year following latest fiscal year. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease, due in next fiscal year following latest fiscal year. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease, due in fifth fiscal year following latest fiscal year. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease, due in fourth fiscal year following latest fiscal year. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease, due in third fiscal year following latest fiscal year. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease, due in second fiscal year following latest fiscal year. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of lessee's undiscounted obligation for lease payments in excess of discounted obligation for lease payments for operating lease. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
|
Leases Operating Expense 5yr table (2018 10-K) (Details) $ in Millions |
Dec. 31, 2018
USD ($)
|
|---|---|
| Leases [Abstract] | |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due, Next Twelve Months | $ 640 |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Two Years | 631 |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Three Years | 628 |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Four Years | 623 |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due in Five Years | 619 |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments, Due Thereafter | 8,054 |
| Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due | $ 11,195 |
| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable letter-terms in excess of one year. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for operating leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable lease term in excess of one year due in the next fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for operating leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable lease term in excess of one year due in the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for operating leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable lease term in excess of one year due in the fourth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for operating leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable lease term in excess of one year due in the third fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for operating leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable lease term in excess of one year due in the second fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of required minimum rental payments for operating leases having an initial or remaining non-cancelable lease term in excess of one year due after the fifth fiscal year following the latest fiscal year. Excludes interim and annual periods when interim periods are reported on a rolling approach, from latest balance sheet date. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
|
Equity (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
||||
| Dividends Payable [Line Items] | |||||||||
| Preferred Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Cash Paid | $ 17.1875 | $ 17.1875 | $ 17.1875 | $ 17.1875 | |||||
| Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Cash Paid | [1] | $ 1.125 | $ 1.125 | $ 1.125 | |||||
| Dividends, Common Stock, Cash | [1] | $ 472 | $ 471 | $ 471 | |||||
| Dividends, Preferred Stock, Cash | 28 | $ 28 | $ 28 | $ 28 | |||||
| Common stock repurchased during period, shares | 0.4 | ||||||||
| Purchases of Common Stock | $ (44) | $ (34) | |||||||
| Availability Under ATM | $ 750 | $ 750 | |||||||
| Common Stock [Member] | |||||||||
| Dividends Payable [Line Items] | |||||||||
| Dividends Payable, Date Declared | [1] | Aug. 08, 2019 | May 16, 2019 | Feb. 21, 2019 | |||||
| Dividends Payable, Date of Record | [1] | Sep. 13, 2019 | Jun. 14, 2019 | Mar. 15, 2019 | |||||
| Dividends Payable, Date to be Paid | [1] | Sep. 30, 2019 | Jun. 28, 2019 | Mar. 29, 2019 | |||||
| Preferred Stock [Member] | |||||||||
| Dividends Payable [Line Items] | |||||||||
| Dividends Payable, Date Declared | Sep. 18, 2019 | Jun. 17, 2019 | Mar. 19, 2019 | Dec. 11, 2018 | |||||
| Dividends Payable, Date of Record | Oct. 15, 2019 | Jul. 15, 2019 | Apr. 15, 2019 | Jan. 15, 2019 | |||||
| Dividends Payable, Date to be Paid | Nov. 01, 2019 | Aug. 01, 2019 | May 01, 2019 | Feb. 01, 2019 | |||||
| |||||||||
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Availability Under ATM No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate dividends paid during the period for each share of common stock outstanding. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Date the declared dividend will be paid, in CCYY-MM-DD format. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of paid and unpaid common stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Date the dividend to be paid was declared, in CCYY-MM-DD format. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Date the holder must own the stock to be entitled to the dividend, in CCYY-MM-DD format. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of paid and unpaid preferred stock dividends declared with the form of settlement in cash. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow to reacquire common stock during the period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate dividends paid during the period for each share of preferred stock outstanding. No definition available.
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and have not been retired and are not held in treasury. Some state laws may govern the circumstances under which an entity may acquire its own stock and prescribe the accounting treatment therefore. This element is used when state law does not recognize treasury stock. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Details
|
| X | ||||||||||
- Details
|
Operating Segments Operating Segments Table (Details) $ in Millions |
3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sep. 30, 2019
USD ($)
|
Sep. 30, 2018
USD ($)
|
Sep. 30, 2019
USD ($)
|
Sep. 30, 2018
USD ($)
|
Dec. 31, 2018
USD ($)
|
||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tower Count | 40,000 | 40,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fiber Miles | 75,000 | 75,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of prepaid lease purchase price adjustments | $ 5 | $ 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Site Rental | 1,260 | $ 1,184 | 3,718 | $ 3,507 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 254 | 191 | 700 | 497 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment Revenues | 1,514 | 1,375 | 4,418 | 4,004 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment site rental cost of operations | [1] | 369 | 355 | 1,095 | 1,057 | |||||||||||||||
| Services and other | [1] | 147 | 119 | 410 | 304 | |||||||||||||||
| Segment selling, general and administrative expenses | 150 | 145 | 457 | 418 | ||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | 91 | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation, Amortization and Accretion, Net | 389 | 385 | 1,176 | 1,138 | ||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs | 173 | 160 | 510 | 478 | ||||||||||||||||
| Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Equity Method Investments, Income Taxes, Extraordinary Items, Noncontrolling Interest | 277 | 169 | 744 | 471 | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 1,538 | 1,241 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets | 38,344 | 38,344 | $ 32,785 | |||||||||||||||||
| Segment cost of operations share-based compensation [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | 7 | 21 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||
| Towers [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Site Rental | 829 | 782 | 2,451 | 2,318 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 250 | 189 | 689 | 489 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment Revenues | 1,079 | 971 | 3,140 | 2,807 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment site rental cost of operations | 218 | 215 | 647 | 641 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 143 | 115 | 398 | 292 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment cost of operations | [3] | 361 | [2] | 330 | [2] | 1,045 | [4] | 933 | [4] | |||||||||||
| Segment site rental gross margin | 611 | 567 | 1,804 | 1,677 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment services gross margin | 107 | 74 | 291 | 197 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment selling, general and administrative expenses | 23 | [2] | 28 | [2] | 73 | [4] | 81 | [4] | ||||||||||||
| Segment Operating Profit | 695 | 613 | 2,022 | 1,793 | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 146 | 123 | 403 | 318 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets | 22,101 | 17,694 | 22,101 | 17,694 | ||||||||||||||||
| Fiber [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Site Rental | 431 | 402 | 1,267 | 1,189 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 4 | 2 | 11 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment Revenues | 435 | 404 | 1,278 | 1,197 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment site rental cost of operations | 141 | 131 | 418 | 388 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment cost of operations | [3] | 143 | [2] | 132 | [2] | 424 | [4] | 394 | [4] | |||||||||||
| Segment site rental gross margin | 290 | 271 | 849 | 801 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment services gross margin | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment selling, general and administrative expenses | 49 | [2] | 45 | [2] | 147 | [4] | 131 | [4] | ||||||||||||
| Segment Operating Profit | 243 | 227 | 707 | 672 | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 382 | 348 | 1,108 | 900 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets | 15,565 | 14,326 | 15,565 | 14,326 | ||||||||||||||||
| Consolidated Total [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Site Rental | 1,260 | 1,184 | 3,718 | 3,507 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 254 | 191 | 700 | 497 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment Revenues | 1,514 | 1,375 | 4,418 | 4,004 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment site rental cost of operations | 359 | 346 | 1,065 | 1,029 | ||||||||||||||||
| Services and other | 145 | 116 | 404 | 298 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment cost of operations | [3] | 504 | [2] | 462 | [2] | 1,469 | [4] | 1,327 | [4] | |||||||||||
| Segment site rental gross margin | 901 | 838 | 2,653 | 2,478 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment services gross margin | 109 | 75 | 296 | 199 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment selling, general and administrative expenses | 72 | [2] | 73 | [2] | 220 | [4] | 212 | [4] | ||||||||||||
| Segment Operating Profit | 938 | 840 | 2,729 | 2,465 | ||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | 29 | 32 | 90 | 84 | ||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation, Amortization and Accretion, Net | 389 | 385 | 1,176 | 1,138 | ||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs | 173 | 160 | 510 | 478 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other expenses to reconcile to income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes | [5] | 14 | 47 | 41 | 153 | |||||||||||||||
| Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Equity Method Investments, Income Taxes, Extraordinary Items, Noncontrolling Interest | 277 | 169 | 744 | 471 | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 540 | 478 | 1,538 | 1,241 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets | 38,344 | 32,644 | 38,344 | 32,644 | ||||||||||||||||
| Corporate and Other [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment selling, general and administrative expenses | 56 | 47 | 168 | 141 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment Operating Profit | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | 29 | 32 | 90 | 84 | ||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation, Amortization and Accretion, Net | 389 | 385 | 1,176 | 1,138 | ||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense and amortization of deferred financing costs | 173 | 160 | 510 | 478 | ||||||||||||||||
| Other expenses to reconcile to income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes | [5] | 14 | 47 | 41 | 153 | |||||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures | 12 | 7 | 27 | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets | 678 | 624 | 678 | 624 | ||||||||||||||||
| Segment G&A share-based compensation [Member] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Segment Reporting Information [Line Items] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation expense | $ 22 | $ 25 | $ 69 | $ 65 | ||||||||||||||||
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Represents the amortization of prepaid lease purchase price adjustments for the period presented. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Fiber Miles that the Company owns and operates. No definition available.
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- Definition Segment Operating Profit is defined as segment site rental gross margin plus segment network services and other gross margin, less general and administrative expenses attributable to the respective segment. No definition available.
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- Definition Segment services and other gross margin is defined as segment services and other revenues less segment services and other cost of operations, which excludes stock-based compensation expense recorded in consolidated cost of operations. No definition available.
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- Definition Segment site rental gross margin is defined as segment site rental revenues less segment site rental cost of operations, which excludes stock-based compensation expense and prepaid lease purchase price adjustments recorded in consolidated cost of operations. No definition available.
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- Definition Contains revenue from accounted under both Topic 606 (Finance leases) and Topic 842 (Operating leases) No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Represents the Company's tower count. Inclusive of towers and other structures, such as rooftops No definition available.
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- Definition 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. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition 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. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition The aggregate cost of goods produced and sold and services rendered during the reporting period. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition The aggregate net amount of depreciation, amortization, and accretion recognized during an accounting period. As a noncash item, the net amount is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of expense incurred and directly related to generating revenue from leased and rented property or equipment. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/otherTransitionRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations before deduction of income tax expense (benefit) and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest, and addition of income (loss) from equity method investments. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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- Definition Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense for debt. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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- Definition Amount of expense classified as other. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The cash outflow for purchases of and capital improvements on property, plant and equipment (capital expenditures), software, and other intangible assets. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss). Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The aggregate total costs related to selling a firm's product and services, as well as all other general and administrative expenses. Direct selling expenses (for example, credit, warranty, and advertising) are expenses that can be directly linked to the sale of specific products. Indirect selling expenses are expenses that cannot be directly linked to the sale of specific products, for example telephone expenses, Internet, and postal charges. General and administrative expenses include salaries of non-sales personnel, rent, utilities, communication, etc. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of noncash expense for share-based payment arrangement. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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Supplemental Cash Flow Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
9 Months Ended | |
|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
|
| Supplemental Cash Flow Information [Line Items] | ||
| Cash payments related to operating lease liabilities | $ 409 | $ 0 |
| Interest paid | 547 | 503 |
| Income Taxes Paid | 13 | 15 |
| New ROU assets obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities | 327 | 0 |
| Increase (decrease) in accounts payable for purchases of property and equipment | 17 | 25 |
| Purchase of property and equipment under capital leases and installment purchases | $ 28 | $ 28 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Increase (Decrease) in accounts payable for purchases of property and equipment No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Purchase of property and equipment under capital leases and installment purchases No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Supplemental Cash Flow Information [Line Items] No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition The amount of cash paid during the current period to foreign, federal, state, and local authorities as taxes on income, net of any cash received during the current period as refunds for the overpayment of taxes. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash paid for interest, including, but not limited to, capitalized interest and payment to settle zero-coupon bond attributable to accreted interest of debt discount and debt instrument with insignificant coupon interest rate in relation to effective interest rate of borrowing attributable to accreted interest of debt discount; classified as operating and investing activities. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash outflow from operating lease, excluding payments to bring another asset to condition and location necessary for its intended use. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of increase in right-of-use asset obtained in exchange for operating lease liability. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
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Supplemental Cash Flow Information Reconciliation of Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions |
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Dec. 31, 2018 |
Sep. 30, 2018 |
Dec. 31, 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supplemental Cash Flow Elements [Abstract] | ||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ 182 | $ 277 | ||
| Restricted cash | 138 | 131 | ||
| Restricted Cash, Noncurrent | 5 | 5 | ||
| Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Restricted Cash Equivalents | $ 325 | $ 413 | $ 453 | $ 440 |
| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Excludes cash and cash equivalents within disposal group and discontinued operation. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash and cash equivalents, and cash and cash equivalents restricted to withdrawal or usage. Excludes amount for disposal group and discontinued operations. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, and other accounts with general characteristics of demand deposits. Cash equivalents include, but are not limited to, short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash and cash equivalents restricted as to withdrawal or usage, classified as current. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, and other accounts with general characteristics of demand deposits. Cash equivalents include, but are not limited to, short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Amount of cash restricted as to withdrawal or usage, classified as noncurrent. Cash includes, but is not limited to, currency on hand, demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, and other accounts with general characteristics of demand deposits. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- References No definition available.
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Subsequent Events (Details) - $ / shares |
3 Months Ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2019 |
Jun. 30, 2019 |
Mar. 31, 2019 |
|||
| Subsequent Event [Line Items] | |||||
| Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Cash Paid | [1] | $ 1.125 | $ 1.125 | $ 1.125 | |
| Common Stock [Member] | |||||
| Subsequent Event [Line Items] | |||||
| Common Stock, Dividends, Per Share, Cash Paid | $ 1.20 | ||||
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Aggregate dividends paid during the period for each share of common stock outstanding. Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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| X | ||||||||||
- Definition Detail information of subsequent event by type. User is expected to use existing line items from elsewhere in the taxonomy as the primary line items for this disclosure, which is further associated with dimension and member elements pertaining to a subsequent event. No definition available.
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| X | ||||||||||
- Details
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