Telephone company looks at big merger

This map shows the present coverage areas of the two phone companies. - photo by CenturyLink map

phone coverage — This map shows the present coverage areas of the two phone companies. - photo by CenturyLink map

Denise Etheridge

Special to the News

Updated: Jan 12, 2011, 3:31 PM

Published: Jan 12, 2011, 3:45 PM

CenturyLink, a communications company with local offices in Hinesville, recently announced it will merge with Qwest, considered by some to be a leader in the networks services market because of its national fiber-optic network.
CenturyLink provides Internet, video and telephone services and is included on a Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations. The company is headquartered in Monroe, La.
The merger was valued at $22.4 billion, a tax-free stock-for-stock purchase, said Randy Krause, public relations manager for CenturyLink in Georgia and South Carolina
“We believe the combination of CenturyLink’s and Qwest’s employees, assets and service areas will provide us greater scale, scope and expertise and will provide significant benefits for shareholders, customers and our communities,” CenturyLink Chief Executive Officer and President Glen F. Post III said in a news release. “This combination will enhance our ability to deploy innovative IP products and high-bandwidth services to business customers, expand availability and speed to consumers, and offer superior, differentiated video products.”
“This transaction is compelling for our shareholders, who will benefit from an immediate premium for their shares, an increase of approximately 50 percent in the annual dividend, and the opportunity to participate in the upside potential of the combined company through their ownership of CenturyLink stock,” Qwest Chairman and Chief Executive Edward A. Mueller said.
The merger is expected to be complete in early April, Krause said.
“We were in 33 states and we’ll now be in 37 states,” he said.
The merger, he added, will help make CenturyLink “more competitive.”
CenturyLink and Qwest together will have 50,000 employees, 5 million broadband customers, 1.5 million video customers and 17.5 million access lines, Krause said.
“They (Qwest) have some (desirable) technologies and it made good business sense to team up,” he said. The coveted technology Qwest will soon share with CenturyLink is its fiber optic network, he said.
“It (the merger) should be transparent to our CenturyLink customers here in Georgia,” said Durand Standard, CenturyLink general manager and vice president of operations for Georgia and South Carolina. “What we’ll do is broaden our scope and our footprint nationally, giving us greater resources to draw from locally. Ultimately, we will go on net with their fiber facilities and derive some savings; we will draw from their expertise and technology.”
Krause said CenturyLink’s markets “overlaid” Qwest’s markets in several other states. In regard to potential layoffs, he said “we don’t know at this point.” He said there is always a chance of layoffs with corporate acquisitions, but added company officials are optimistic layoffs will not occur.

Record April boosts Savannah's container trade at port

The Port of Savannah moved 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units in April, an increase of 7.1 percent. - photo by Provided

GardenCityTerminal — The Port of Savannah moved 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units in April, an increase of 7.1 percent. - photo by Provided

Bryan County News

Updated: May 23, 2018, 1:59 AM

Published: May 23, 2018, 2:00 AM

The Georgia Ports Authority's busiest April ever pushed its fiscal year-to-date totals to more than 3.4 million 20-foot equivalent container units (TEUs), an increase of 8.8 percent, or 280,000 TEUs, compared to the first 10 months of fiscal 2017.

"We're on track to move more than 300,000 TEUs in every month of the fiscal year, which will be a first for the authority," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "We're also anticipating this to be the first fiscal year for the Port of Savannah to handle more than 4 million TEUs."

April volumes reached 356,700 20-foot equivalent container units, up 7.1 percent or 23,700 units. As the fastest growing containerport in the nation, the Port of Savannah has achieved a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 percent a year over the past decade.

"As reported in the recent economic impact study by UGA's Terry College of Business, trade through Georgia's deepwater ports translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater productivity," said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. "In every region of Georgia, employers rely on the ports of Savannah and Brunswick to help them become more competitive on the global stage."

To strengthen the Port of Savannah's ability to support the state's future economic growth, the GPA Board approved $66 million in terminal upgrades, including $24 million for the purchase of 10 additional rubber-tired gantry cranes.

"The authority is committed to building additional capacity ahead of demand to ensure the Port of Savannah remains a trusted link in the supply chain serving Georgia and the Southeast," Lynch said.

The crane purchase will bring the fleet at Garden City Terminal to 156 RTGs. The new cranes will support three new container rows, which the board approved in March. The additional container rows will increase annual capacity at the Port of Savannah by 150,000 TEUs.

The RTGs will work over stacks that are five containers high and six deep, with a truck lane running alongside the stacks. Capable of running on electricity, the cranes will have a lift capacity of 50 metric tons.

The cranes will arrive in two batches of five in the first and second quarters of calendar year 2019.

Also at Monday's meeting, the GPA Board elected its officers, with Jimmy Allgood as chairman, Will McKnight taking the position of vice chairman and Joel Wooten elected as the next secretary/treasurer.

For more information, visit gaports.com, or contact GPA Senior Director of Corporate Communications Robert Morris at (912) 964-3855 or rmorris@gaports.com.

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