CenturyLink 2006 Annual Report Download - page 7

C R E A T I N G S O L U T I O N S T H A T W O R K 5
deployment philosophy that focuses on
enhancing our strategic position and providing
attractive returns on invested capital. We
expect the acquisition of Madison River will
be accretive to free cash flow even before
anticipated synergies, while only modestly
increasing our leverage.
While we continue to seek attractive
growth opportunities, we also work to main-
tain a strong balance sheet and return cash
to our shareholders. During 2006, CenturyTel
invested more than $300 million in network
enhancements and returned more than
$830 million to our shareholders through
share repurchases and dividends. We were also
able to retire more than $60 million in debt.
We believe CenturyTel is in an excellent finan-
cial position – with a strong balance sheet and
healthy cash flows – to capitalize on growth
opportunities in the next 18 to 24 months.
  
Over the past ten years, CenturyTel has
delivered a total shareholder return of more
than 240 percent, among the highest in our
industry over that period of time. During the
past three years, we returned more than
$1.8 billion to our shareholders through share
We believe CenturyTel is in an excellent financial
position – with a strong balance sheet and
healthy cash flows – to capitalize on growth
opportunities in the next 18 to 24 months.
GLOSSARY
Advanced IP services – services, such as IP
Virtual Private Networks and IP Centrex, built on
the basic TCP/IP standard protocol that leverages
the ubiquity and scale of IP.
Ethernet services – services provided over local
area and wide area networks built upon the IEEE
802.3 standard.
Home networking – the use of a residential local
area network to enable the connection and integra-
tion of multiple computing, control, monitoring,
and communication devices to distribute content
and Internet connectivity throughout one’s home.
Managed services – the provision of third party
day-to-day management responsibility of data,
network and other communications-related ser-
vices for customers with the goal of improving
the effectiveness and efficiency of customers’
operations.
Phantom traffic – communications traffic that
is unidentifiable, mislabeled or improperly routed
over the public switched telephone network.
repurchases and dividends and reduced our
common shares outstanding by more than
20 percent.
We are clearly committed to using all of
our assets to drive long-term shareholder value.
       
   
Our investments in our networks, our
financial and operational discipline and our
strong focus on our customers have enabled
us to successfully navigate the significant
transformation in our industry. We have also
been blessed with an outstanding group of
employees who care about our customers
and understand our business.
We believe our Company is well-posi-
tioned to capitalize on opportunities as the
future of the telecommunications industry
becomes more clearly defined. We look for-
ward to the opportunities and challenges that
lie ahead and appreciate the support of you,
our owners.

Chairman and CEO
WiFi – (Wireless Fidelity) the underlying tech-
nology of wireless local area networks based on
the IEEE 802.11 specifications and developed
primarily for portable communications devices.
WiMAX – (Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access) a standards-based tech-
nology complying with the IEEE 802.16 specifica-
tions expected to enable wireless multimedia
applications and provide a viable last mile
wireless broadband solution.