UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) December 1, 1998
CENTURY TELEPHONE ENTERPRISES, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Louisiana 1-7784 72-0651161
(State or other (Commission file (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of number) Identification No.)
incorporation)
100 Century Park Drive, Monroe, Louisiana 71203
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code - (318)388-9000
Item 5. Other Events
On December 1, 1998, CenturyTel (Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc.)
acquired Ameritech's telephone operations and directory publishing business in
19 telephone exchanges in northern and central Wisconsin for approximately $221
million cash. The press release announcing the transaction is filed as Exhibit
99.1 hereto.
SIGNATURE
---------
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
CENTURY TELEPHONE ENTERPRISES, INC.
By: /s/ R. Stewart Ewing
----------------------------
R. Stewart Ewing
Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
EXHIBIT 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
December 1, 1998 Media - CenturyTel, Patricia Cameron
(318) 388-9674
patricia.cameron@centurytel.com
Investors - CenturyTel, Jeffrey S. Glover
(318) 388-9648
jeff.glover@centurytel.com
Ameritech - Ralph Deptolla
(800) 242-1553
ralph.deptolla@ameritech.com
CenturyTel Completes Purchase of 19 Wisconsin Telephone Exchanges from Ameritech
Monroe, LA. . .CenturyTel (Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc., NYSE Symbol:
CTL) has completed its cash purchase of Ameritech's telephone operations and
directory publishing business in 19 telephone exchanges covering 21 communities
in northern and central Wisconsin. The transaction originally was announced last
March.
The operations acquired by CenturyTel include the telephone property and
equipment that serves nearly 69,000 customers, or more than 89,000 telephone
lines, as well as directory publishing operations for nine telephone
directories. CenturyTel's existing operations in Wisconsin are adjacent to the
properties acquired from Ameritech.
"We are excited about this opportunity to serve customers in areas located so
close to our existing CenturyTel exchanges," said Glen F. Post, III, president
and chief executive officer of CenturyTel. "We look forward to bringing our
tradition of providing excellent service as well as new products and
technologies to our new customers in Wisconsin."
The 21 communities that will now receive CenturyTel service are: Ashland,
Bayfield, Cornell, Hurley, Ladysmith, Saxon, Stanley, Superior, Washburn,
McAllister, Marinette, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Peshtigo, Baraboo, Berlin, Green
Lake, Mazomanie, North Freedom, Princeton and Redgranite.
Customers will see no changes in their area codes, telephone numbers, or local
calling areas. Emergency 9-1-1 service continues to be available 24 hours a day
and each customer's long-distance company remains the same.
The most notable change for customers is that their monthly bill will come from
CenturyTel, not Ameritech. Customers will receive a final pro-rated bill from
Ameritech, followed by a new bill from CenturyTel.
"Our objective was to make this transition as smooth as possible for customers,
and we think we succeeded," said Ellen M. Gardner, president of Ameritech
Wisconsin. "Customers can expect to receive the same outstanding service from
CenturyTel that they received from Ameritech. At the same time, this sale allows
Ameritech to more effectively focus its resources on our remaining customers,
creating additional value for our shareowners."
CenturyTel has provided quality telephone service in Wisconsin communities for
more than 25 years and has recently expanded its presence in Wisconsin and the
rest of the country. Last year, CenturyTel acquired Pacific Telecom (PTI) and
Pecoco, Inc., providers of local exchange services in Wisconsin. CenturyTel's
Wisconsin operations now serve more than 338,000 phone lines in 124 exchanges
with more than 800 employees. Additionally, CenturyTel provides wireless service
to markets in Wisconsin with a population of approximately 1.7 million.
CenturyTel (Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc.) provides integrated
communications services including local exchange, wireless, long distance,
Internet access and security services to more than two million customers in 21
states. The company, headquartered in Monroe, La., is publicly traded on the New
Stock Exchange under the symbol CTL. CenturyTel is the ninth largest local
exchange telephone company, based on access lines, and the 10th largest cellular
company, based on population equivalents owned, in the United States. Visit
CenturyTel's corporate website at (www.centurytel.com).
Ameritech (NYSE: AIT) serves millions of customers in 50 states and 40
countries. Ameritech provides a full range of communications services, including
local and long-distance telephone, cellular, paging, security, cable TV,
Internet and more. One of the world's 100 largest companies, Ameritech
(www.ameritech.com) has 72,000 employees, 1 million shareowners and more than
$29 billion in assets.