MONROE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 2005--CenturyTel, Inc.
(NYSE:CTL) shareholders elected Greg McCray of Wheaton, Ill., to the
board of directors during the company's annual meeting of shareholders
Thursday. Retiring from CenturyTel's
board are long-time directors
Johnny Hebert and R.L. Hargrove.
Hebert has served on CenturyTel's
board since 1968, when the
company was incorporated as Central Telephone and Electronics. He has
served on numerous committees including audit, nominating, insurance
evaluation, shareholder relations, compensation and risk evaluation.
During his 37-year tenure, shares of CenturyTel
common stock first
began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the company has been
included in the S&P 500 Index, and has grown from serving 10,000
telephone customers in three states to providing local, long distance,
Internet and broadband services to customers in 22 states.
Hargrove has served on CenturyTel's
board since 1985, and as an
executive officer from 1975-1987. He has served on multiple committees
including shareholder relations, executive, audit, nominating and
corporate governance.
During his tenure, CenturyTel
grew through numerous acquisitions
and internal revenue growth, experienced multiple stock splits, and
expanded service offerings to include high-speed data and broadband
Internet, wireless and video.
"Mr. Hebert and Mr. Hargrove have made numerous contributions to
CenturyTel
during their time on the board," Glen F. Post, III,
chairman and CEO, said. "Their dedication, insight, unfailing
integrity and leadership have been invaluable to CenturyTel
, our
employees and our shareholders. They have played a large role in
building our company's principles and character which continue to
guide our company's progress. We want to express our deepest
appreciation and best wishes to them upon their retirement from
CenturyTel's
board."
McCray is CEO of Antenova Limited, a British company that develops
and markets antenna components used within cellular handsets, PDAs,
laptop computers, modems and other devices. He is the former president
of McCray Consulting, a technology consulting company; CEO and
director of Pipinghot Networks, a broadband fixed wireless access
equipment developer; and senior vice president and general manager of
customer operations for Lucent Technologies among other ventures.
"Greg has outstanding engineering, strategic development,
marketing, merger and acquisition, and management experience and
expertise," Post said. "He brings a strong background in
communications network infrastructure design and technical product
support to CenturyTel
. We are very pleased to welcome Greg to
CenturyTel's
board of directors."
CenturyTel, Inc.
(NYSE:CTL) provides a full range of local, long
distance, Internet and broadband services to consumers in 22 states.
Included in the S&P 500 Index, CenturyTel
is a leading provider of
integrated communications services to rural areas and small to
mid-size cities 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.