MONROE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2003--CenturyTel, Inc.
(NYSE:CTL) completed the previously announced $38 million purchase of
the operating assets of Digital Teleport, Inc. (DTI), a fiber optic
transport business based in St. Louis. CenturyTel will operate the
business under the name LightCore, a CenturyTel company.
The LightCore acquisition should provide operational synergies and
a new source of revenue for CenturyTel over the next three years.
"The LightCore network is highly complementary to CenturyTel's
existing operations and will help us operate more efficiently
resulting in added value for our shareholders and customers," said
Glen F. Post III, CenturyTel chairman and CEO. "This investment also
advances CenturyTel's clustering strategy and affirms our commitment
to actively pursue growth opportunities through acquisitions."
LightCore's fiber optic network spans 5,700 total route miles, of
which 3,200 are lit in portions of Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa,
Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Approximately 64
percent of the lit network is in Missouri, CenturyTel's second largest
state in terms of access lines served. As of March 31, 2003,
CenturyTel served more than 476,000 access lines in the state.
LightCore provides wholesale fiber optic services to national and
regional communications carriers in small-to-mid-size city markets and
to enterprise customers and government agencies in St. Louis. In 2002,
the company reported $21.5 million in total revenues and generated
positive cash flow from operations.
CenturyTel does not expect substantial changes to the operations
of the business. The transition will be seamless for LightCore's
existing customer base. "We look forward to working with our new
employees and building relationships with our new customers," Post
said.
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,
La., 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
Investors:
Tony Davis, 318/388-9525
tony.davis@centurytel.com
or
Media:
Patricia Cameron, 318/388-9674
patricia.cameron@centurytel.com
or
DTI/LightCore
Sal Cinquegrani, 847/359-2808
sal@spin-com.com
SOURCE: CenturyTel, Inc.