CENTURYTEL SCOOPS UP MADISON RIVER FOR $830 MILLION

摘要

CenturyTel said Mon. it agreed to buy Madison River in a deal valued at $830 million, despite continuing questions about universal service fund (USF) and intercarrier compensation reform. Glen Post, CEO of CenturyTel, said on a conference call that regulatory issues figured in the company's evaluation of the merger, but there抯 little risk of Madison River抯 revenue dropping because of rule changes. 揘othing major has changed in the regulatory arena,?Post said in response to an analyst抯 question. Madison River gets only about $3.5 million yearly in high-cost USF support, so USF reform shouldn't affect the value of the purchase, the company said. Nor are intercarrier compensation changes, putting downward pressure on access charges, likely to be a big consideration, because Madison receives only about 30% of its revenue from access charges and its intrastate rates are a relatively low 2?a minute, Post said.