“To maintain a point of contact and information for telephone retirees on health care and other benefit issues.” __ AUSWR CO/WY Newsletter of the retirees of CenturyLink, Qwest, U S WEST 2017 Issue 1 and their predecessor companies. www.AUSWR.org Another merger: CenturyLink buys Colorado-based Level 3 Communications Excerpts from Dow Jones CenturyLink gets about two- CenturyLink’s long history of Newswires, the Wall Street thirds of its revenue from mergers and acquisitions: Journal, the Denver Post. business customers, while Level 1930 startup Oak Ridge Tel Co 1946 Central Tel & Electronics 3’s revenues come entirely from 1971 Century Tel Enterprises CenturyLink Inc. announced in the business segment. 1981 War Tel of West Virginia October 2016 that it reached a 1989 Universal Tel cash-and-stock deal to buy Level 1992 Central Tel of Ohio In this merger, as with 1997 Delta Security Alarm; Pacific 3 Communications Inc. of previous mergers such Telecom Broomfield, Colorado for roughly 1998 Century Protection Systems; $25 billion, a marriage that will as the April 2011 Qwest northern Wisconsin from Ameritech give the two communications & CenturyLink merger, 1999 Renamed Century Tel companies more heft to weather healthcare benefits 2000 GTE of Arkansas the competitive landscape. 2001 CSW Net extended to Pre-1991 2002 Glen F. Post III became Chairman of the Board; Acquires parts of Level 3 runs one of the largest and ERO retirees are Alabama and Missouri from Internet backbones in the world, PROTECTED under the Verizon but increasingly has turned its 2003 Half-interest in Sky Comm; Digital Phelps settlement. Teleport; Midwest Fiber Optic focus to small and midsize Network (from Level 3 Comm) business in an attempt to reverse 2004 Partnered with EchoStar to add slowing sales growth in its core Companies often take on a big DISH network TV; Cingular Wireless Internet business. risk when they announce a big 2007 Madison River Communications; acquisition. Shares of an acquirer Gulf Telecommunications; CenturyLink, traditionally a rural (in this case CenturyLink) often Coastal Communications; local-phone-service provider, has Gallatin River Communication sell-off as the shares of the sought to upgrade its network 2008 Embarq from Sprint company being acquired (Level 2009 Renamed CenturyLink with fiber-optic lines in a bid to 3) rise. Investors have learned 2010 Qwest Communications compete with AT&T Inc., Verizon 2013 AppFog; Tier3 over time that integrations can Communications Inc. and rivals 2014 Cognilytes take years to accomplish, and in 2016 – 17 Level 3 merger in the cable industry. some cases, integrations just (Continued on page 3) — INSIDE THIS EDITION — 2 President’s message 6 At age 90, Betty ‘did it all’ 10 Members we have lost 2 Photos of October annual meeting 8 Medicare 2017 cost increases 11 Membership application Retiree Guardian — 2017 Issue 1 Page 1 Colorado—Wyoming Edition 4 NRLN oversight of new Congress 9 Retiree Advocates 11 List of officers & Area Reps President’s Message by John Rommelfanger, made to ensure our financial Colorado/Wyoming Co-President stability as an organization, not only for the upcoming year, but Dear Members and Friends, going into 2018. My report to you tells of a Changes include increasing good year for us in 2016. dues to $10 for an individual or household. Our board also 2016 Annual meeting: Our approved that for our 2017 Annual AUSWR CO/WY membership Meeting , we will ask you to pay a John annual meeting was October modest charge for lunch. Rommelfanger, th 17 in Lakewood, Colorado. CO/WY This marked the 21st year that Co-President Business as usual: In 2017, we we have gathered together to plan to continue to be a cost- report the status of our effective organization, providing organization — and services that are essential to our preview what’s ahead members. We have scheduled four for 2017. editions of the Retiree Guardian newsletter and will continue with Attendance was Retiree Advocates and healthcare estimated at just over advocacy. Plans also are to 100 members. continue co-funding Curtis Kennedy’s services with the Our highlights this year were NWB retiree group. We will our ‘Question and Answer’ continue to contribute to the panel, with members directing lobbying work of the NRLN. their questions to our current Please contribute to these Board members, and officer efforts. reports about membership and financial reports. We were As we survey the impacts entertained by a Chinese band and of the announcement of the a presentation from Herb CenturyLink and Level 3 Hackenberg of the Telephone merger in 2017, be assured History Museum. Our litigation that we are providing the attorney, Curtis Kennedy, talked resources to look into with us about legal issues what’s in our best regarding benefits and interests. We will keep pensions. you informed via the Retiree Guardian and We all enjoyed lunch, and emails as more the opportunity to visit with information becomes other retirees that we might available. not see every day. As in past years, flu shots were Hoping you have a great available before the actual 2017, and that we will meeting started. see you in October for the annual meeting. As we head into 2017, several changes must be ___Rommel Retiree Guardian — 2017 Issue 1 Page 2 Colorado—Wyoming Edition (CenturyLink Annual Enrollment — Continued from page 1) enough synergies to get the numbers to work out. But there will be complications of the different never really pan out. CenturyLink is familiar with mergers and acquisitions throughout its history. cultures of the two companies to be sure. And 16,000 of CenturyLink's are unionized. Level3 offers a defined What will the numbers contribution (401-k-type) look like in the merger? As retirement plan, whereas of right now, CenturyLink has a CenturyLink manages defined $16.9 billion market benefit plans (pensions). capitalization (total value of outstanding shares) and net About the stock. Under the debt of around $20 billion. Its deal’s terms, CenturyLink agreed revenues are in the $17.8 to swap $26.50 in cash and billion range. Level 3 has a 1.4286 CenturyLink shares for market capitalization of $18.65 each share of Level 3. The company said the deal was billion and net debt of about Glen Post, Sunit Patel, $10 billion. It generates about CenturyLink CEO Level 3 CFO worth $34 billion, including debt. $8.3 billion in annual revenue. Just a week after the Level 3 merger was announced, Combined, the two will have $26 billion or so in CenturyLink said it would sell its data centers and revenue -- and an enterprise value of $65 billion. colocation business to a group of funds for $2.15 That's a big company, but still nowhere near the billion in cash and a minority stake, to be valued at AT&T’s and Verizon’s of the world. $150 million, in the consortium's global secure How about the assets? In terms of long-haul assets, infrastructure company. The consortium, made up of such a combination will result in a big portion of the funds advised by BC Partners, Medina Capital Advisors most recently built national long-haul conduit and and Longview Asset Management, will own dark fiber into the hands of one company. All the big CenturyLink's portfolio of 57 data centers at the close ‘dot com’-era builders will be under one roof at last... of the deal, expected to be in the first quarter of 2017. will regulators notice? Leadership after the merger. CenturyLink Chief Meanwhile, Level 3's national metro depth will be Executive Glen Post — or whomever is the merged with CenturyLink's incumbent western CenturyLink CEO when the merger is completed — territories to potentially great effect. And estimated to be the third quarter of 2017 — will lead CenturyLink's cloud and data center assets, combined the combined company. with those of Level 3's, will be similarly strengthened. This merger will be the granddaddy of network Post, who also chairs the CenturyLink board, will continue to serve as chairman of the combined integration projects. company. Level 3’s chief financial officer, Sunit Patel, How about the people? Level 3 has 12,500 in its will serve as chief financial officer of the combined organization, give or take a few. CenturyLink has firm. CenturyLink has agreed to appoint four Level 3 43,000. All deals like this will mean layoffs, of course, Board members at the merger closing. and plenty of them. It has to be that way to make Regional Retiree Guardian Team: Regional & Colo/Wyo Editor: Kitty Kennedy ([email protected]) Copy editor: Irene Chavira ([email protected]) Copy editor: Eve Mary Verde ([email protected]) AUSWR COLO/WYO: NWB Qwest—U S WEST Association: Barbara Wilcox ([email protected]) Clyde Just ([email protected]) John Rommelfanger ([email protected] Jerry Weldon ([email protected]) Don Warsavage ([email protected]) Cindy Hadsell ([email protected]) Editor: Pat Williams ([email protected]) Copyright - Fair Use Notice: The Retiree Guardian is the newsletter of the AUSWR Colorado/Wyoming and the NWB-U S WEST-Qwest Retirees associations. Copyrighted material is reprinted, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues to our members. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U S Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material presented is available without profit. For more information, go to: Cornell University Legal Information Institute at: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html.