List of CenturyLink operating companies


The CenturyLink Operating Companies are local exchange carriers owned by CenturyLink, the third largest landline telephone company in the United States.
CenturyLink operating companies consist of operations inherited from various predecessor companies, which is reflected in the differing names of the companies and partially overlapping service territories; all operating companies do business as CenturyLink. Predecessors include:

CenturyTel companies

CenturyLink grew as Century Telephone and later CenturyTel through acquiring many small and mid-size telephone companies. These include:
The following companies were formerly owned by Embarq, acquired in 2009, and formerly owned by Sprint Nextel until 2006. Centel companies are also included, which was purchased by Sprint in 1993.
, which was acquired in 2011, owned an original Bell Operating Company and a small independent provider. Qwest acquired U S WEST, one of the Baby Bells, in 2000.