Communications Workers of America Joins CenturyLink in Opposing SB-157

DENVER, March 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has announced its opposition to SB-157 that would threaten hundreds of jobs in Colorado. With more 3,700 members in Colorado, the CWA joins CenturyLink in opposing the bill introduced in the State Senate.

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In Colorado, CenturyLink employs more than 1,000 CWA members, many of whom serve in rural Colorado. Sponsored by Sen. Mark Scheffel (R – District 4), SB-157 takes a discriminatory approach to regulatory reform by denying all High Cost Fund support to rural CenturyLink customers while guaranteeing ongoing increased support to all other customers of all other providers. CenturyLink agrees with the need for regulatory reform, but stands firm in the approach that high cost support for rural customers should be based on whether the customer lives in a high cost area, not based on which provider sends the customer an invoice.

"This bill comes down to customers and jobs. SB-157 chooses winners and losers by singling-out CenturyLink customers to carry the financial burden for rural service and CenturyLink employees who serve those customers," said Jim Campbell, regional vice president for regulatory and legislative affairs for CenturyLink.

"If SB-157 were to pass, we would have tough choices to make to serve our rural customers," said Kenny Wyatt, Mountain Region president for CenturyLink. "The outcome would be fewer people with reliable telephone service and fewer people with jobs."

The bill diverts more than $60 million per year with millions going to international long distance carriers, and creates a multi-million dollar fund within the Governor's Office of Information Technology.  That fund, which lacks any control mechanisms, would reach more than $300 million over the next ten years.

About CenturyLink

CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States. The company provides broadband, voice, wireless and managed services to consumers and businesses across the country. It also offers advanced entertainment services under the CenturyLink™ Prism™ TV and DIRECTV brands. In addition, the company provides data, voice and managed services to enterprise, government and wholesale customers in local, national and select international markets through its high-quality advanced fiber optic network and multiple data centers. CenturyLink is recognized as a leader in the network services market by key technology industry analyst firms, and is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises through Savvis, a CenturyLink company. CenturyLink's customers range from Fortune 500 companies in some of the country's largest cities to families living in rural America. Headquartered in Monroe, La., CenturyLink is an S&P 500 company and is included among the Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations. For more information, visit www.centurylink.com.

SOURCE CenturyLink

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