CenturyTel profit down 18%, lines decline 6%

Monroe, La.-based telco CenturyTel reported second quarter earnings that included an 18 percent drop in net income to $92.2 million from the same quarter last year, when its earnings were helped by a one-time settlement. Revenue was down about 5 percent to $658.1 million, and the telco's landline tally fell about 6 percent to 2.1 million lines. The landline loss rate was slightly higher than the 5.8 percent line loss the telco reported in the first quarter of thus year. CenturyTel grew its broadband Internet customer base in the second quarter by 21 percent to 607,000.

CenturyTel has been planning to invest in a broadband overlay with the 700 Mhz spectrum it won at auction. The company also recently became one of several service providers to delay a planned implementation of NebuAd for a targeted advertising program.

For more:
- see this Associated Press story at Forbes

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