CenturyTel Schedules Fourth Quarter 2004 Earnings Conference Call.

MONROE, La. -- CenturyTel, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) plans to release its fourth quarter 2004 earnings results pre-market opening on Thursday, February 3, 2005, and host a related conference call at 10:30 a.m. CST that day.

The conference call will be streamed live over CenturyTel's Web site at www.centurytel.com. Interested parties can also access the call by dialing 888.535.2555 five minutes prior to the start of the call. A digital recording of the call will be available beginning at 2:00 p.m. CST on February 3, 2005, and ending February 9, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. CST. The replay can be accessed by calling 888.266.2081 and entering the access code: 624572. A replay of the call will also be available on the Web site after 2:00 p.m. CST on February 3, 2005.

CenturyTel, Inc. provides communications services including local, long distance, Internet access and data services to customers in 22 states. The company, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CTL, and is included in the S&P 500 Index. CenturyTel is the 8th largest local exchange telephone company, based on access lines, in the United States. Visit CenturyTel at www.centurytel.com.