CenturyLink 2004 Annual Report Download - page 25

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 25 of the 2004 CenturyLink annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 28

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28

[ 23 ]
Success Stories
EPILOGUE
Our leadership team is committed to delivering positive
operating and financial results to our customers, our
employees and our shareholders. In 2004, we realized the
following accomplishments:
■Drove increased customer satisfaction and incremental
revenue growth through our bundling initiatives and
customer care efforts. In our Fall 2004 Customer
Satisfaction Study, 72 percent of customers surveyed
(75 percent of residential customers) said they would
definitely or probably recommend CenturyTel service
to others.
■Completed the conversion to a state-of-the-art billing
and customer care system that can grow as our bundled
packages expand.
■Grew our premier Simple Choice™bundle customer
base by 51 percent and increased residential bundles
penetration by 60 percent.
■Grew features revenue by 13 percent.
■Added 136,000 long distance lines, to end 2004 with more
than 1,067,800 lines, an increase of nearly 15 percent
from 2003.
■Launched tiered DSL service and ended the year with
142,600 DSL connections, an increase of 59,000 or
71 percent from 2003.
■
Increased operating revenues to $2.407 billion, up
over
the prior year, in a very difficult competitive and
regulatory environment.
■Returned more than $430 million to our shareholders
through our stock repurchase program and cash dividends
.
■Retired nearly $180 million of debt.
■Increased broadband enablement from 63 percent to
71 percent.
4
4
CENTURYTEL 2004 ANNUAL REPORT