| **Related Party Transaction**             | 6 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
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| **Related Party Transactions [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Related Party Transaction                 | Related Party TransactionUpon closing of the AWN acquisition on July 22, 2013, ACS became a related party for financial statement reporting purposes.  ACS provides us with local service lines and network capacity in locations where we do not have our own facilities. We provide wholesale services to ACS who uses our network to sell services to its respective retail customers and we receive ACS' high cost support from USF for its wireless customers. For the six months ended June 30, 2014, we have paid ACS $32.7 million and received $20.1 million in payments from ACS.  At June 30, 2014 we have $33.2 million in receivables from ACS and $10.9 million in payables to ACS.  We also have long term capacity exchange agreements with ACS for which no money is exchanged. |

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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for related party transactions. Examples of related party transactions include transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiary; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) and entity and its principal owners; and (d) affiliates.
+ References
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