CenturyLink 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

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Strengthening Our Broadband Position
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We continue to invest to shorten loops,
expand ber and deploy broadband
capabilities deeper into our network.
At year-end 2008, 88 percent of our
lines were broadband-enabled, and
57 percent of those lines are capable
of speeds up to 10Mbps.
88%
Our broadband business services
enable data sharing and collaboration
for enterprises and small businesses.
Our offerings include VoIP solutions,
Ethernet services, dedicated Internet
access and managed services for enter-
prises as well as bundled services for
small businesses.
700MHz
CenturyTel has one of the highest
broadband penetration rates
among its peers, and our quarterly
incremental penetration rate has
exceeded that of our peers in six of
the last eight quarters.
The proposed acquisition of EMBARQ
will create opportunities to serve
additional markets with our differenti-
ated approach that includes our core
network and expanding regional ber.
Our broadband capabilities are
especially noteworthy given the low
population density of the small-to-
mid-size cities and rural markets
we serve.
We are currently pursuing a number
of technology trials – that leverage
the strengths of our ONE network –
to explore and dene the optimal path
for the next generation of broadband
service offerings.
We continually explore new residential
broadband services such as television
delivered over a xed broadband con-
nection or IPTV. We are successfully
delivering IPTV service in La Crosse,
Wisconsin, and Columbia, Missouri, and
are evaluating further expansion.
We successfully acquired 69 licenses in the 700MHz auction at a considerable
discount to the average prices paid for spectrum at the auction. These licenses
cover 53 percent of our local exchange areas and overlap about 4,500 miles of
our core network. These strategic assets give us the option to explore wireless
broadband services for our customers.