MONROE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2003--CenturyTel, Inc.
(NYSE: CTL) has requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia delay implementation of the wireline-to-wireless
local number portability (LNP) Order released by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) November 10, 2003. Yesterday the
Commission denied CenturyTel's request to stay implementation of the
Order.
"We understand the FCC's desire to provide consumer choice but the
LNP Order raises fundamental network, operational and cost issues that
cannot be ignored in a rush to implement portability for portability's
sake," Glen F. Post, III, CenturyTel chairman and CEO, said. "We
cannot stand quietly by in the face of an Order that could
significantly increase customers' rates in the small and mid-size
communities served by companies like CenturyTel."
The Order did not address important issues such as the
availability of dependable E-911 service for those customers who
choose to port their wireline number to wireless and deferred
implementation of fully reciprocal wireless-to-wireline portability.
"It is difficult to understand the Commission's rush to require
local number portability while many open issues remain and without
requiring reciprocal wireless-to-wireline portability," Post said.
"Some consumers who have previously chosen a wireless-only option
might choose to port their wireless number back to the more reliable
wireline network. Unfortunately, the Order enables such porting only
in limited circumstances."
The Order requires LNP implementation in certain markets by
November 24, 2003. Due to the short notice and many unanswered
technical questions, CenturyTel is unable to fully implement the Order
by that date in the 15-20 percent of its access lines requiring early
implementation. The company has filed waivers with state commissions
to temporarily suspend the implementation of the Order in those
markets.
CenturyTel, Inc.
provides communications services including local,
long distance, Internet access and data services to more than 3
million customers in 22 states. The company, headquartered in Monroe,
Louisiana, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
symbol CTL, and is included in the S&P 500 Index. CenturyTel is the
8th largest local exchange telephone company, based on access lines,
in the United States. Visit CenturyTel at www.centurytel.com.
CONTACT: CenturyTel Inc.
, Monroe
Media:
Annmarie Sartor, 318-388-9671
annmarie.sartor@centurytel.com
or
Investors:
Tony Davis, 318-388-9525
tony.davis@centurytel.com
SOURCE: CenturyTel Inc.