Alabama Broadcasters



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CenturyTel earnings update

Second quarter, 2005

Rural telephone company CenturyTel Inc. Thursday posted a 2 percent increase in second-quarter profit due to lower interest costs.

The Monroe, Louisiana-based company said net earnings rose to $85.1 million from $83.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share rose to 64 cents from 59 cents a year earlier, when it had more shares outstanding.

Revenues rose 0.5 percent to $606.4 million from $603.6 million, as declines in CenturyTel's local telephone business were offset by stronger revenue from data and fiber transport services.

Analysts on average had expected CenturyTel to earn 57 cents per share on revenues of $600 million, according to Reuters Research.

CenturyTel raised its earnings estimates for the remainder of the year by 15 cents a share, to a range of $2.40 to $2.50 per share. Analysts had been estimating $2.32 per share.

For a full news release, please visit .

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CenturyTel is in your Community

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Josh Tindell (Business Customer Technician – Enterprise, AL) knows CenturyTel means business when it talks about service to the customer. Tindell recently won this John Deere Gator tractor from the company for referring and taking care of customers in his area.

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Beth Thompson of Tallassee accepts a CenturyTel scholarship award from Jim Crews, Alabama human resources director. Beth will attend Auburn University in the fall. She is the daughter of Central Office Technician John Thompson.

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Staff and customers smile in the shadows of a hot day in Ooltewah, TN. In June CenturyTel celebrated its local customers with special offers, balloons and refreshments.

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CenturyTel is fortunate to have years and years of experience in its 400 employees in Alabama and Tennessee. Albert Humber (Customer Technician-Fayette, AL) reached a milestone of 40 years recently with the local telephone company. He has no immediate plans to retire. Humber graduated from high school on a Friday, interviewed on Saturday and began working with the telephone company on Monday.

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The Wedowee Kiwanis Club, in partnership with CenturyTel, put on a Saturday leadership workshop for area tenth-graders. This is the second year that CenturyTel has awarded a grant to sponsor the event. All county high schools were invited to participate, with 20 students in attendance. Sidney Lanier with the Kiwanis Club said, " The kids really worked hard… We are very grateful that CenturyTel helped us sponsor this event."

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Recently, CenturyTel’s Alabama sales and marketing group brought southeast Alabama 9-1-1 officials and software vendors together to discuss needs for the development of new call sources and services to accommodate the voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) trend. The group discussed a study from Columbia University addressing the crucial differences between VoIP and traditional landline service. CenturyTel is committed to supporting the latest communication technologies, without compromising the safety of our customers.

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CenturyTel has some dedicated Relay for Lifers who, every year, play an active role in fundraising for the American Cancer Society. First, the Dothan and Ozark teams hosted a series of hotdog sales for employee friends and family (Joe Collins, Plant Technician-Dothan, AL and Joe Longoria, Fleet Svr-Dothan,AL shown), benefiting the Dale County relay team. The second photo shows Greg Bryant (Business Systems Technician-Andalusia, AL) and CenturyTel retiree Billy Joe Stallworth in front of the grill. Their fundraiser of choice was a Boston butt sale, with funds going to support the Covington County relay team. Altogether, CenturyTel and its employees donated more than $7,500 to the American Cancer Society in 2005 through Relay for Life events all over Alabama.

Hurricane Dennis threatens south Alabama

If you would like to receive email updates regarding the status of CenturyTel service during a weather event, please contact Jennifer Doherty (Jennifer.Doherty@).

Some clips from status updates issued by CenturyTel before, during and after the storm:

CenturyTel mobilizes manpower and supplies to ride out Hurricane Dennis (7/8/2005)

Your local telephone company is warning the community of potential utility, telephone and Internet outages as Hurricane Dennis approaches CenturyTel service areas in southeast and southwest Alabama. Area managers are testing backup equipment in the company’s central offices in case of a commercial power outage. These facilities house emergency generators and batteries to not only provide a power source, but also to act as surge protectors...

Status of CenturyTel telephone and data services relative to Hurricane Dennis (7/10/2005)

As of 4:00 PM this afternoon most CenturyTel facilities affected by Hurricane Dennis were powered by generator and battery back-up. Communities that may be affected include a very small percentage of customers in southeast and northwest Dothan, Clio, Abbeville, Ewell, Echo, Daleville, Hartford, Enterprise near the Bellwood community and Highway 167 south, New Brockton, the Shady Grove community near Elba, and some areas of Samson…

Hurricane Dennis spares most of CenturyTel’s Alabama customers (7/11/2005)

Batteries and generators kept most of CenturyTel’s 300,000 Alabama lines with phone and Internet service throughout Hurricane Dennis’ visit this weekend. The storm affected less than one percent of access lines, with most of those operational on commercial power this evening. 800 lines were voluntarily disconnected as technicians removed two switches from Dauphin Island during an evacuation of the general public on Friday. Those switches were re-installed and operational today….

Low-income consumers in CenturyTel service areas may qualify for assistance programs

CenturyTel is energizing its efforts to inform residents of two assistance programs that provide discounts on initial telephone installation and basic monthly telephone service to qualifying low-income consumers. Link-Up helps these consumers pay the initial costs of getting telephone service. Lifeline provides certain discounts on monthly service for qualified subscribers. Lifeline and Link-Up are available to qualifying consumers in every U.S. state (territory and commonwealth). Qualifications for participation vary by state.

Some states, such as Alabama, have their own criteria. In states that rely solely on the federal program, the subscriber must participate in one of the following programs: Medicaid, food stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

The amount of the discounts also varies by state. Link-Up helps qualified low-income consumers to connect, or hook up, to the telephone network. This federal program offsets 1/2 of the initial hook-up fee, up to $30, for qualified households.

Individuals living in a CenturyTel service area should call 800-201-4099 to inquire about eligibility. Those outside CenturyTel areas can call the FCC consumer information center at 888-225-5322 for more information.

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For more information contact:

Your local area manager or

Jennifer Doherty 334.792.5035

FYI contains news and announcements about CenturyTel's people, products and services.

We send it periodically to those of you who share a special interest in the communities we both serve.

FYI

For Your Information

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