Fourth Supplemental Indenture



 EXHIBIT 4.18 
 FOURTH SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE 
 FOURTH SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE (this
“Supplemental Indenture”), dated as of June 22, 2009, among Valor Telecommunications Enterprises, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Valor Telecommunications Enterprises Finance Corp., a Delaware corporation (together,
the “Issuers”), Windstream Intellectual Property Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Windstream Corporation and a Delaware corporation, (the “Guaranteeing Subsidiary”), and The Bank of New York Mellon, a New York
banking corporation (or its permitted successor), as trustee under the Indenture referred to below (the “Trustee”). 
 W I T N E S S E T H 
 WHEREAS, the Issuers and the Guarantors party thereto have heretofore executed and delivered to
the Trustee an indenture (the “Indenture”), dated as of February 14, 2005, providing for the issuance of the Issuers’ 7.75% Senior Notes due 2015 (the “Notes”); 
 WHEREAS, the Indenture provides that under certain circumstances a Guaranteeing Subsidiary shall execute and deliver to the Trustee a
supplemental indenture pursuant to which the Guaranteeing Subsidiary shall, subject to Article Ten of the Indenture, unconditionally guarantee the Notes on the terms and conditions set forth therein (the “Note Guarantee”);

 WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 9.01 of the Indenture, each of the Issuers and the Trustee is authorized to execute and
deliver this Supplemental Indenture; 
 WHEREAS, each of the Issuers, the other Guarantors and the Guaranteeing Subsidiary has
duly authorized the execution and delivery of this Supplemental Indenture, subject to the terms and conditions described herein; and 
 WHEREAS, each of the Issuers, the other Guarantors and the Guaranteeing Subsidiary has requested that the Trustee execute and delivery this Supplemental Indenture, and all requirements necessary to make this Supplemental Indenture a valid
and legally binding instrument in accordance with its terms and the terms of the Indenture have been duly satisfied and authorized in all respects. 
 NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the Issuers, the Guaranteeing Subsidiary and the Trustee agree
as follows for the equal and ratable benefit of the Holders of the Notes: 
 1. Capitalized Terms. Capitalized terms used
herein without definition shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Indenture. 







 2. Agreement to Guarantee. 
 (a) Subject to Article Ten of the Indenture, the Guaranteeing Subsidiary fully and unconditionally guarantees to each Holder
of a Note authenticated and delivered by the Trustee and to the Trustee and its successors and assigns, irrespective of the validity and enforceability of the Indenture, the Notes or the obligations of the Issuers hereunder or thereunder, that:

 (i) the principal of, premium, if any, and interest and Additional Interest, if any, on the Notes will be
promptly paid in full when due, whether at maturity, by acceleration, redemption or otherwise, and interest on the overdue principal of, premium, if any, and interest and Additional Interest, if any, on the Notes, if lawful (subject in all cases to
any applicable grace period provided herein), and all other obligations of the Issuers to the Holders or the Trustee hereunder or thereunder will be promptly paid in full, all in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof; and 
 (ii) in case of any extension of time of payment or renewal of any Notes or any of such other obligations, the same will be
promptly paid in full when due in accordance with the terms of the extension or renewal, whether at stated maturity, by acceleration or otherwise. Failing payment when due of any amount so guaranteed for whatever reason, the Guarantors shall be
jointly and severally obligated to pay the same immediately. The Guaranteeing Subsidiary agrees that this is a guarantee of payment and not a guarantee of collection. 
 (b) The Guaranteeing Subsidiary hereby agrees that, to the maximum extent permitted under applicable law, its obligations
hereunder shall be unconditional, irrespective of the validity, regularity or enforceability of the Notes or the Indenture, the absence of any action to enforce the same, any waiver or consent by any Holder of the Notes with respect to any
provisions hereof or thereof, the recovery of any judgment against the Issuers, any action to enforce the same or any other circumstance which might otherwise constitute a legal or equitable discharge or defense of a Guarantor. 
 (c) The Guaranteeing Subsidiary, subject to Section 6.06 of the Indenture, hereby waives diligence, presentment, demand
of payment, filing of claims with a court in the event of insolvency or bankruptcy of the Issuers, any right to require a proceeding first against the Issuers, protest, notice and all demands whatsoever and covenants that this Note Guarantee shall
not be discharged except by complete performance of the obligations contained in the Notes and the Indenture. 
 (d) If any Holder or the Trustee is required by any court or otherwise to return to the Issuers, the Guarantors, or any custodian, trustee, liquidator or other similar official acting in relation to any of the Issuers or the Guarantors, any
amount paid by any of them to the Trustee or such Holder, this Note Guarantee, to the extent theretofore discharged, shall be reinstated in full force and effect. 
  

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 (e) The Guaranteeing Subsidiary agrees that it shall not be entitled to any
right of subrogation in relation to the Holders in respect of any obligations guaranteed hereby until payment in full of all obligations guaranteed hereby. 
 (f) The Guaranteeing Subsidiary agrees that, as between the Guarantors, on the one hand, and the Holders and the Trustee, on the other hand, (x) the maturity of the obligations guaranteed hereby may
be accelerated as provided in Article Six of the Indenture for the purposes of the Note Guarantee, notwithstanding any stay, injunction or other prohibition preventing such acceleration in respect of the obligations guaranteed hereby, and
(y) in the event of any declaration of acceleration of such obligations as provided in Article Six of the Indenture, such obligations (whether or not due and payable) shall forthwith become due and payable by the Guarantors for the purpose of
the Note Guarantee. 
 (g) The Guaranteeing Subsidiary shall have the right to seek contribution from any
non-paying Guarantor so long as the exercise of such right does not impair the rights of the Holders under the Note Guarantee. 
 (h) The Guaranteeing Subsidiary confirms, pursuant to Section 10.02 of the Indenture, that it is the intention of such Guaranteeing Subsidiary that the Note Guarantee not constitute (i) a
fraudulent transfer or conveyance for purposes of Bankruptcy Law, the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act or any similar federal or state law to the extent applicable to the Note Guarantee or (ii) an unlawful
distribution under any applicable state law prohibiting shareholder distributions by an insolvent subsidiary to the extent applicable to the Note Guarantee. To effectuate the foregoing intention, the Guaranteeing Subsidiary and the Trustee hereby
irrevocably agree that the obligations of the Guaranteeing Subsidiary will be limited to the maximum amount as will, after giving effect to all other contingent and fixed liabilities of the Guaranteeing Subsidiary that are relevant under such laws,
and after giving effect to any collections from, rights to receive contribution from or payments made by or on behalf of any other Guarantor in respect of the obligations of such other Guarantor under Article Ten of the Indenture, result in the
obligations of the Guaranteeing Subsidiary under the Note Guarantee not constituting a fraudulent transfer or conveyance or such an unlawful shareholder distribution. 
 3. Execution and Delivery. The Guaranteeing Subsidiary agrees that the Note Guarantee shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding any failure to endorse on each Note a notation of the
Note Guarantee. 
 4. Guaranteeing Subsidiary May Consolidate, Etc., on Certain Terms. The Guaranteeing Subsidiary may
not sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets to, or consolidate with or merge with or into, any Person other than as set forth in Section 10.04 of the Indenture. 
 5. Release. The Guaranteeing Subsidiary’s Note Guarantee shall be released as set forth in Section 10.05 of the Indenture.

  

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 6. No Recourse Against Others. Pursuant to Section 12.07 of the Indenture, no
director, officer, employee, incorporator or stockholder of the Guaranteeing Subsidiary shall have any liability for any obligations of the Guaranteeing Subsidiary under the Notes, the Indenture, this Supplemental Indenture, the Note Guarantees or
for any claim based on, in respect of, or by reason of, such obligations or their creation. This waiver and release are part of the consideration for the Note Guarantee. 
 7. NEW YORK LAW TO GOVERN. THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SHALL GOVERN AND BE USED TO CONSTRUE THIS SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURE. 
 8. Counterparts. The parties may sign any number of copies of this Supplemental Indenture. Each signed copy shall be an original, but
all of them together represent the same agreement. 
 9. Effect of Headings. The Section headings herein are for
convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof. 
 10. Trustee. The Trustee shall not be responsible in
any manner whatsoever for or in respect of the validity or sufficiency of this Supplemental Indenture or for or in respect of the recitals contained herein, all of which recitals are made solely by the Guaranteeing Subsidiary and the Issuers.

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 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Supplemental Indenture to be duly
executed as of the date first above written. 
  

			
	 WINDSTREAM INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 SERVICES, INC.

		
	By:	 	/s/ John Fletcher
	Name:	 	John P. Fletcher
	Title:	 	 Executive Vice President, General Counsel
 and Secretary

	
	VALOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTERPRISES, LLC
		
	By:	 	/s/ John Fletcher
	Name:	 	John P. Fletcher
	Title:	 	Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
	
	VALOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTERPRISES FINANCE CORP.
		
	By:	 	/s/ John Fletcher
	Name:	 	John P. Fletcher
	Title:	 	 Executive Vice President, General Counsel
 and Secretary

	
	THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON
		
	By:	 	/s/ Beata Harvin
	Name:	 	Beata Harvin
	Title:	 	 Assistant Vice President