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) August 28, 2001
CenturyTel, 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
The following press release was issued by the Registrant in response to a
letter dated August 27, 2001, from Mr. Scott T. Ford, President and Chief
Operating Officer of ALLTEL Corporation.
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Tuesday August 28, 12:58 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: CenturyTel
CenturyTel Issues Letter to ALLTEL
MONROE, La. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Aug. 28, 2001 -- CenturyTel, Inc.
(NYSE: CTL - news) sent the following letter today to Scott Ford, President
and Chief Operating Officer of ALLTEL Corporation (NYSE: AT - news):
August 28, 2001
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. Scott T. Ford
President and Chief Operating Officer
ALLTEL Corporation
One Allied Drive
Little Rock, AR 72202
Dear Scott:
I received your letter, which was faxed to me as you were
releasing it to the press. Your letter does nothing more than urge us
to reconsider the same proposal that our Board unanimously determined,
after careful consideration, was not in the best interests of
CenturyTel. There is no reason to reconsider that decision.
While we also believe that your letter is clearly misleading,
we have no intention of engaging in your public letter writing
campaign.
We are fully aware of our responsibilities to our shareholders
and other constituencies, and we will continue to respect those
obligations as we pursue our growth strategies.
Sincerely,
/s/ Glen F. Post, III
Glen F. Post, III
Vice Chairman, President and CEO
CenturyTel, Inc. provides communications services including local exchange,
wireless, long distance, Internet access and data services to more than three
million customers in 21 states. The company, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana,
is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CTL.
CenturyTel is the 8th largest local exchange telephone company, based on access
lines, and the 8th largest cellular company, based on population equivalents
owned, in the United States. Visit CenturyTel's corporate Web site at
(www.centurytel.com).
Contact:
CenturyTel
Investors:
Jeff Glover
318/388-9648
Media:
Annmarie Sartor
318/388-9671
or
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Joele Frank, Andy Brimmer
212/355-4449
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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 thereunto duly authorized.
CENTURYTEL, INC.
By:/s/ Neil A. Sweasy
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Neil A. Sweasy
Vice President and Controller