CenturyTel has successfully bid for 69 licenses in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC (News - Alert)) recently completed 700 megahertz (MHz) spectrum auction.

The spectrum is being acquired at an average price per megahertz pop of $.70 and a total cost of $149 million.

The spectrum, which provides wireless overlap of approximately 53 percent of CenturyTel's (News - Alert) local exchange areas, creates a highly contiguous footprint that closely overlaps CenturyTel's existing local exchange and long-haul fiber networks.

"We are very pleased with the opportunity to cover such a significant percentage of our local exchange markets at prices that are less than 40 percent of the average price paid per megahertz pop in Blocks A&B," Glen F. Post, III, chairman and chief executive officer said in a press release.

"This spectrum is well suited for serving less densely populated markets and should enable us to leverage our existing network assets to offer our customers a compelling range of wireless and fixed-line voice and broadband products."

CenturyTel is a provider of communications, high-speed Internet and entertainment services in small-to-mid-size cities through broadband and fiber transport networks. Included in the S&P 500 Index, CenturyTel delivers advanced communications with a personal touch to customers in 25 states.

"We recognize the importance of our disciplined approach to capital deployment and free cash flow generation, and we remain focused on maintaining that discipline while positioning ourselves for long-term growth," Post said.

"While it is too early to discuss financial and operational details, we are acquiring spectrum that overlaps our core ILEC and fiber transport networks. This should enable us to utilize our existing operations, including our current distribution and technical support infrastructure, to cost-effectively deploy wireless services, both in our existing markets and in selective contiguous markets, where we believe profitable growth is achievable."

The acquisition and build-out of the 700 MHz wireless spectrum is expected to be strategically advantageous for CenturyTel for a number of reasons including that it provides CenturyTel the opportunity to deliver wireless voice and broadband data to a significant percentage of the current customer base, making CenturyTel the only on-net provider of both fixed and wireless broadband in many of its markets.

Anil Sharma is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.