Man of the Century

Through new technology, acquisitions and a solid position on quality customer service, President and CEO Glen Post has watched CenturyTel grow into one of the nation's largest integrated communications providers, serving 2 million customers in 21 stateswith a focus on rural areas and smaller cities.

Originally a small telco offering only POTS, Monroe, La.-based CenturyTel today offers long-distance, Internet, security monitoring and wireless services. In fact, along with several major acquisitions over the years, Post says CenturyTel's expansion into wireless has had one of the biggest impacts on the company. "It broadened the total scope of our operations," he says. "It opened the door for us in a number of new markets across the country and provided a lot of excitement within the company with employees with that kind of growth potential."

The December 1997 acquisition of Pacific Telecom, supervised by Post and worth $2.2 billion, doubled the size of CenturyTel's telephone operations and significantly expanded its wireless ownership.

Under various names throughout the years, ranging from Century Telephone and Century Cellunet to PTI Communications, the company experienced steady growth as it acquired small underserved and poorly served properties and introduced quality service to customers. Officials decided on the name CenturyTel in 1998, simultaneously launching a campaign to highlight its standing as an ICP with the ability to bundle multiple services.

Post joined the company in 1976, holding various executive roles until being named president and CEO in 1992. Although CenturyTel's improved customer service is something Post says he wouldn't mind having as his professional legacy, he also is proud of the company's overall growth and shareholder value.

When asked to offer advice for industry newcomers, Post warns that the telecom business is not for the meek. "First of all, be ready to compete. This industry is competitive now," he says. "Second, be prepared for continuous change - changes in technology, regulation, increasing competition. Our industry changes so rapidly."

That ideology put CenturyTel on that map, he says. "That and being very aware of growth opportunities - being aggressive with pursuing the growth opportunities as they present themselves."