CenturyLink 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

Our experience in successfully integrating acquisitions
enabled us to achieve early market successes and
make excellent progress in the six months following
the July 1 closing.
From a market perspective, we implemented aggressive
broadband strategies in Las Vegas, the greater Orlando
area and other newly acquired markets, and we have
received very positive customer response. Focusing
on local market dynamics and introducing targeted
high-speed broadband solutions led to significant growth
in broadband customers in the second half of 2009,
particularly in the recently acquired market areas.
Our local market focus and targeted marketing cam-
paigns generated a meaningful improvement in access
line losses. In the second half of 2009, CenturyLink’s
annualized rate for access line losses for the combined
company was 8.6 percent, compared to 9.8 percent in
the second half of 2008.
From a systems perspective, we successfully converted
the acquired Ohio markets to our customer care and
billing system and completed the integration of our
human resources, payroll, financial reporting and other
internal systems. We currently expect to convert the
North Carolina markets in the first half of 2010 and to
complete all conversions by year-end 2011.
We are encouraged by the trends and early successes.
Going forward, we believe we can leverage our new
scale to take advantage of market opportunities, operat-
ing efficiencies and our significant fiber investments.
Network Assets Offer an Excellent Platform for Growth
We have made significant investments to extend our
long-haul fiber network and deploy fiber deeper into
our local networks. We expanded our fiber transport
network by more than 10,000 miles, connecting most
of our service areas coast-to-coast. We now transport
90 percent of CenturyLink traffic on our own network,
which reduces reliance on third parties and creates
greater cost efficiencies and revenue opportunities.
We are continuously upgrading electronic components
to increase network speeds and are deploying additional
long-haul and local fiber.
Our ongoing investments in high-bandwidth capabilities
help sustain and extend our broadband leadership. As
of year-end 2009, 90 percent of our access lines were
broadband-enabled. Of the broadband-enabled lines,
53 percent are capable of speeds of up to 10 Mbps. In
2009, we also launched Internet service with speeds of
up to 100 Mbps to certain business customers in seven
markets. The number of high-speed Internet customers
served by CenturyLink reached 2.2 million by year-end
Our Broadband
Services:
Advanced,
Extensive
We served 2.2 million broadband customers at the end of
2009, up nearly 9 percent over the combined company total
at year-end 2008.
Business customers can
choose from a range of
secure, reliable, high-
speed data solutions –
including nationwide
Ethernet – with 24/7
customer service support.
Our Internet Protocol
Television (IPTV) service
delivers 250 all-digital,
high-definition channels
over a high-speed Internet
connection in select
markets.
Our Multiprotocol Label
Switching service provides
traffic management capabili-
ties across multiple net-
work protocols, enabling
business customers to
more effectively manage
their networks.
IPTV MPLSEthernetBROADBAND GROWTH
3
Glen F. Post, III
Chief Executive Officer and President
“Going forward, we believe we can
leverage our new scale to take
advantage of market opportunities,
operating efficiencies and our
significant fiber investments.”