CenturyTel Unwires Vail

MONROE, La. -- Residents, businesses and visitors in Vail will soon have access to broadband wireless Internet service provided by CenturyTel and the Town of Vail. CenturyTel today announced that the Vail Town Council awarded the communications company a contract to build and operate a wireless broadband network for the Colorado ski resort destination.

Vail is the first Colorado city to move ahead with this type of partnership to build a municipal Wi-Fi network. The town selected CenturyTel to build its system following a competitive bid process that included proposals from six other companies. The agreement was unanimously approved by the Vail Town Council at its July 18 evening meeting.

CenturyTel will build a Wi-Fi mesh network in Vail and launch service by the end of 2006. Residents, businesses and visitors will be able to get free Internet access up to 300Kbps (kilobits per second) anywhere in town in one hour increments. Faster Internet service with speeds up to 3Mbps (megabits per second) will be available with pay plans for monthly, weekly or daily access.

"We applaud the Town of Vail for their forward thinking and initiative," Karen Puckett, CenturyTel president and chief operating officer, said. "This is a strategic step for CenturyTel to expand our technologically advanced business outside of our traditional local telephone markets."

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL)