Contingencies (Details)	0 Months Ended
Jun. 03, 2009 Corwin case defendant	Nov. 04, 2010 Retirees Vs Verizon and Company Employee Benefits Committee and Pension Plans claim	Nov. 25, 2009 Retirees Vs Verizon and Company Employee Benefits Committee and Pension Plans plaintiff
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of company directors added as party defendants	2
Number of plaintiffs			3
Number of claims for which motion was filed for dismissal		1
Number of remaining procedural ERISA claims		2

Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 450

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 4

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant