 jmpenguinJmpenguinPremium
join:2004-01-16
Labelle, FL | Embarq CenturyTel Merging »www.marketwatch.com/news/story/c···od_mktwN
CenturyTel, Embarq agree to merge in $11.6 bln deal
By Steve Gelsi
agreed to a merger offer of $40.42 a share in stock for a value of $11.6 billion, including $5.8 billion of Embarq debt. CenturyTel will pay 1.37 shares of stock for each share of Embarq, valuing the telecommunications firm at a premium of 36% over its closing price on Friday. Upon closing of the transaction, Embarq shareholders are expected to own approximately 66% and CenturyTel shareholders are expected to own approximately 34% of the combined company. CenturyTel CEO Glen Post will lead the combined firm. End of Story
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AirCard either Sprint or ATT WINXP-Pro, LAN Firefox Thunderbird
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1 edit | We knew it was coming - just didn't know who it would be. Still amazes me that the 7th largest ILEC buys the 4th largest. I would think it would be the other way around. I guess the board at Embarq want to cut and run...
Edit:
This is the first major non-bank merger since this credit crunch. Maybe the feds will put the brakes on it seeing that putting a company that further in debt will not be beneficial to the folks... |
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Reviews:
 ·Embarq Now Centu..
| reply to jmpenguin
I wonder what this will ultimately mean for us Embarq users. Anyone know if CenturyTel is capped? Their web site implies unlimited but so did Frontier at one point. In reality some of those poor (Frontier) saps are stuck with miserable 5GB caps from what I've read. Hopefully that won't be the case here. Lots of unknowns now...  |
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| Well if they cap it then the contracts are void...Good news for me because I will go wireless with Sprint... |
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This may be a bummer for the employees but as far as the people who use the service it may be a good thing. I hope that CenturyTel will make an effort to improve the service and make better decisions.
Embarq was doomed from the start and everyone knew it. The suits got their cash and now they are jumping ship. Once again the local communities suffer the hand of big business.
Wonder if everyone's email address is going to change yet again? LoL |
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 kg4mucGettin It Done A Little At A Time
join:2003-02-17
Marion, VA
·Embarq Now Centu..
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Just when things finally settle down and start working normally something comes along that will threaten the overall performance of the whole game!
I was with cable for years and the caps didn't affect me too much but currently I runs a PWS and send data,albeit small packets, regularly to several locations as well as web page updates so most likely wouldn't take long to swallow a 5 GB allotment that way!
I don't have any choice here except for cable which I really have no desire to go back to.. mainly because they consider me a "spammer" because I move a lot of data during the given day. I can assure them or anybody else that it's not "spam" its legit data going to legit locations.
I don't like spam in any form even the food version!
Just like you said lots of unknowns!
I hope things stay as they are!
Wayne |
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 IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3 | I work for CT in Missouri, and can tell you there are no usage caps.  We are just as stunned about this as you guys are. We had heard something was on the horizon, but figured a merger/acquisition of Windstream was more likely the candidate. Time will tell I guess. |
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 intellerSociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
 ·Cingular Wireless
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This merger is not going to happen folks. The dems will take power and make the terms so bad that Embarq and CT will break it off. Look for requirements like $10 1.5 dry pair DSL and lots of mandatory DSL rollouts in ghettos. They were pretty dumb to wait this long to announce. They should have tried to squeeze this in like Verizon did with Alltel.
IF it does happen, all it will do is combine two crappy companies into one super crappy company. There is ZERO benefit in this for consumers. |
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 Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1 | reply to HotSkeete
said by HotSkeete :
Wonder if everyone's email address is going to change yet again? LoL
We have email?
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| reply to jmpenguin
Yes! You do have email. It just dosen't work.
That's a feature mind you. Another feature is having a 3rd party company reading the mail you can't get to. That's my favorite.
I wonder what CenturyTel uses for mail servers? |
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Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Embarq Now Centu..
| reply to inteller
said by inteller:This merger is not going to happen folks. The dems will take power and make the terms so bad that Embarq and CT will break it off. Look for requirements like $10 1.5 dry pair DSL and lots of mandatory DSL rollouts in ghettos. They were pretty dumb to wait this long to announce. They should have tried to squeeze this in like Verizon did with Alltel. IF it does happen, all it will do is combine two crappy companies into one super crappy company. There is ZERO benefit in this for consumers. The last part I can see, but the dem argument is specious at best. By the time dems were to come to power, what facts can you provide (other than ideological hyperbole) that makes you think dems are inclined to enact requirements that make no sense for the company's futures?
I don't flag for off-topic, or anything for that matter, but if you're going there, make a case - that's all I'm saying.
You could start by providing links to legislation introduced since 2006 where current dems introduced anything remotely draconian related to BB pricing.
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intellerSociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
·Cingular Wireless
| said by Titus Pullo:said by inteller:This merger is not going to happen folks. The dems will take power and make the terms so bad that Embarq and CT will break it off. Look for requirements like $10 1.5 dry pair DSL and lots of mandatory DSL rollouts in ghettos. They were pretty dumb to wait this long to announce. They should have tried to squeeze this in like Verizon did with Alltel. IF it does happen, all it will do is combine two crappy companies into one super crappy company. There is ZERO benefit in this for consumers. The last part I can see, but the dem argument is specious at best. By the time dems were to come to power, what facts can you provide (other than ideological hyperbole) that makes you think dems are inclined to enact requirements that make no sense for the company's futures? I don't flag for off-topic, or anything for that matter, but if you're going there, make a case - that's all I'm saying. You could start by providing links to legislation introduced since 2006 where current dems introduced anything remotely draconian related to BB pricing. -- um, just look at the history here folks. It was the dem side of the FCC committees that put $10 dry DSL into the ATT merger, and 8 channels of minority programming into the Siruis/XM merger. I don't make this shit up. I'm not picking sides here I just call it as I see it. I was not for the XM/Sirius merger and I'm not for this one either. Repubs are just in the business of merging their buddies together so they can make out like bandits. There are ZERO people in washington overseeing these mergers for consumer benefit. |
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Does CenturyTel outsource their tech support? Even though I'vd had some rough calls with tech support before, at least I get to speak to someone in Engligh when I've called Embarq for help. |
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Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Embarq Now Centu..
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I'll look into what you state, and if true on pricing, then that's ridiculous and I agree with you. The dry argument I'll have to think about, but I tend to agree with you on that, too: govt should stay out of anything other than predatory or illegal business practices.
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intellerSociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
·Cingular Wireless
| the problem with mergers in the last 5 years or so is that they are disrupting the corporate ecosystem of natural selection. Crappy companies should not be allowed to survive. 5.8 billion in debt? Embarq needs to fail. Don't worry about continuity of service, companies will swoop in and buy up the pieces. This is really no different than the bank failures of today. There are a lot of banks that need to fail because they took on bad debt. To Embarq's credit they took a lot of crap from Sprint when they were spun off but still, you have to have a plan to draw down that debt and Embarq has none. Centurytel got to where they are today by exploiting their monopoly in rural markets and charging people out the wazoo for crappy internet and phone service. I do not think ill gotten money should be applied to acquire ill gotten debt. In a bit of schadenfreude I hope the FCC DOES make them offer $10 dry pair DSL in all of their markets...it will majorly screw up their business model of exploitation of their rural markets.
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"WHEN THE LAUGH TRACK STARTS THEN THE FUN STARTS!" |
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IconTime KeeperPremium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Little Rock, AR
kudos:3
1 edit | reply to magic_fan
said by magic_fan :
Does CenturyTel outsource their tech support? Even though I'vd had some rough calls with tech support before, at least I get to speak to someone in Engligh when I've called Embarq for help.
Nope, based here in the States. |
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Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1 Reviews:
·Embarq Now Centu..
| reply to inteller
said by inteller:the problem with mergers in the last 5 years or so is that they are disrupting the corporate ecosystem of natural selection. Now we're getting to agreement ground  So long as you don't do social darwinism to extreme ...
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1 edit | reply to Go Tarheels
Well, the line dogs around here said that it was coming and that the Embarq executives just wanted out. So I guess they got what they wanted.
Good fortune to you, LG, you tech you.
And yes, I too would like to see Synacor go away. Zimbra is good, but on balance, Synacore doth suck. |
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| reply to jmpenguin
this sucks beyond words....I'm normally not for government interference in business matters, but I hope this gets delayed forever or blocked.
Look at CenturyTel's pricing structure; they only offer 256k down and 1.5 megabits down--their 15 megabits down is only available to those (or so it appears to be hinting at) who have FTTH. Worse yet, their 1.5 megabit package? $41.20 a month, which is more than you pay for the 5 megabit package (if you have the discount), or more than you pay for the 3 megabit package (if you don't have a discount).
also, in their ToS: "Phone line is required for Internet service and is not included in monthly Internet rates or promotion"
Therefore, no more naked DSL for us.
I think this bit of news just totally wrecked my week (*sigh*)--the idea of paying way more for my Internet service and getting way less (and being forced into having a phone-line) is not, at all, comforting.....I just hope they don't institute caps, because if they would, I'd be toast, and have no fall-back options at all (except satellite).
I hope the merger dies a terrible-horrible death, or Embarq somehow ends up dictating a lot of the policies (speeds, naked DSL, pricing, etc).
man, this sucks.
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"True Patriotism is more closely linked with dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security...I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist abusive state power." -Ron Paul |
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| reply to inteller
said by inteller:the problem with mergers in the last 5 years or so is that they are disrupting the corporate ecosystem of natural selection. Crappy companies should not be allowed to survive. 5.8 billion in debt? Embarq needs to fail. Don't worry about continuity of service, companies will swoop in and buy up the pieces. This is really no different than the bank failures of today. There are a lot of banks that need to fail because they took on bad debt. To Embarq's credit they took a lot of crap from Sprint when they were spun off but still, you have to have a plan to draw down that debt and Embarq has none. Centurytel got to where they are today by exploiting their monopoly in rural markets and charging people out the wazoo for crappy internet and phone service. I do not think ill gotten money should be applied to acquire ill gotten debt. In a bit of schadenfreude I hope the FCC DOES make them offer $10 dry pair DSL in all of their markets...it will majorly screw up their business model of exploitation of their rural markets. As much as Embarq tried to bring down the debt that was inherited from Sprint, competition w/ local cable offering telco services certainly didn't help. How would you suggest what Embarq should've done differently? How do you come afloat when you're always playing the "catch up" game? |
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