Document:

CTL 2014.12.31 EX 4.4a

Exhibit 4.4a

CENTURY TELEPHONE ENTERPRISES, INC.
AND
FIRST AMERICAN BANK & TRUST OF LOUISIANA
AS TRUSTEE
___________________________

INDENTURE
Dated as of March 31, 1994
____________________________
Securities

CROSS-REFERENCE TABLE
	
			
	Section of Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended
	Section of Indenture

	310(a)
	7.09
	

	310(b)
	7.08
	

	 
	7.10
	

	310(c)
	Inapplicable
	

	311(a)
	7.13(a)
	

	311(b)
	7.13(b)
	

	311(c)
	Inapplicable
	

	312(a)
	5.01
	

	 
	5.02(a)
	

	312(b)
	5.02(b)
	

	312(c)
	5.02(c)
	

	313(a)
	5.04(a)
	

	313(b)
	5.04(b)
	

	313(c)
	5.04(a)
	

	 
	5.04(b)
	

	313(d)
	5.04(c)
	

	314(a)
	5.03
	

	314(b)
	Inapplicable
	

	314(c)
	13.06
	

	314(d)
	Inapplicable
	

	314(e)
	13.06
	

	314(f)
	Inapplicable
	

	315(a)
	7.01(a)
	

	 
	7.02
	

	315(b)
	6.07
	

	315(c)
	7.01
	

	315(d)
	7.01(b)
	

	 
	7.01(c)
	

	315(e)
	6.08
	

	316(a)
	6.06
	

	 
	8.04
	

	316(b)
	6.04
	

	316(c)
	8.01
	

	317(a)
	6.02
	

	317(b)
	4.04
	

	318(a)
	13.08
	

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ARTICLE I.

DEFINITIONS

SECTION 1.01.    Terms Defined.

	
				
	Affiliate
	 
	2
	

	Authenticating Agent
	 
	2
	

	Board of Directors
	 
	2
	

	Board of Resolution
	 
	2
	

	Business Day
	 
	2
	

	Certificate
	 
	3
	

	Corporate Trust Office
	 
	3
	

	Company
	 
	3
	

	Default
	 
	3
	

	Event of Default
	 
	3
	

	Governmental Obligations
	 
	3
	

	Indenture
	 
	4
	

	Interest Payment Date
	 
	4
	

	Officers’ Certificate
	 
	4
	

	Opinion of Counsel
	 
	4
	

	Outstanding
	 
	4
	

	Paying Agent
	 
	4
	

	Person
	 
	4
	

	Predecessor Security
	 
	5
	

	Responsible Officer
	 
	5
	

	Security” or “Securities
	 
	5
	

	Securityholder
	 
	5
	

	Subsidiary
	 
	5
	

	Trustee
	 
	5
	

	Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended
	 
	6
	

ARTICLE II.

ISSUE, DESCRIPTION, TERMS, EXECUTION,
REGISTRATION AND EXCHANGE OF SECURITIES

	
				
	SECTION 2.01
	 
	6
	

	SECTION 2.02
	 
	7
	

	SECTION 2.03
	 
	7
	

	SECTION 2.04
	 
	9
	

	SECTION 2.05
	 
	10
	

	SECTION 2.06
	 
	12
	

	SECTION 2.07
	 
	12
	

	SECTION 2.08
	 
	13
	

	SECTION 2.09
	 
	13
	

	SECTION 2.10
	 
	14
	

	SECTION 2.11
	 
	14
	

	SECTION 2.12
	 
	14
	

ARTICLE III.

REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES AND SINKING FUND PROVISIONS

	
				
	SECTION 3.01
	 
	15
	

	SECTION 3.02
	 
	15
	

	SECTION 3.03
	 
	16
	

	SECTION 3.04
	 
	17
	

	SECTION 3.05
	 
	17
	

	SECTION 3.06
	 
	17
	

ARTICLE IV

PARTICULAR COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY
    	
				
	SECTION 4.01
	 
	18
	

	SECTION 4.02
	 
	18
	

	SECTION 4.03
	 
	18
	

	SECTION 4.04
	 
	20
	

	SECTION 4.05
	 
	20
	

	SECTION 4.06
	 
	21
	

ARTICLE V.

SECURITYHOLDERS’ LISTS AND REPORTS BY THE COMPANY 
AND THE TRUSTEE

	
				
	SECTION 5.01
	 
	22
	

	SECTION 5.02
	 
	22
	

	SECTION 5.03
	 
	24
	

	SECTION 5.04
	 
	25
	

ARTICLE VI.

REMEDIES OF THE TRUSTEE AND SECURITYHOLDERS 
ON EVENT OF DEFAULT

	
				
	SECTION 6.01
	 
	26
	

	SECTION 6.02
	 
	29
	

	SECTION 6.03
	 
	31
	

	SECTION 6.04
	 
	31
	

	SECTION 6.05
	 
	32
	

	SECTION 6.06
	 
	32
	

	SECTION 6.07
	 
	33
	

	SECTION 6.08
	 
	34
	

ARTICLE VII.

CONCERNING THE TRUSTEE

	
				
	SECTION 7.01
	 
	34
	

	SECTION 7.02
	 
	36
	

	SECTION 7.03
	 
	37
	

	SECTION 7.04
	 
	37
	

	SECTION 7.05
	 
	37
	

	SECTION 7.06
	 
	38
	

	SECTION 7.07
	 
	38
	

	SECTION 7.08
	 
	38
	

	SECTION 7.09
	 
	39
	

	SECTION 7.10
	 
	39
	

	SECTION 7.11
	 
	40
	

	SECTION 7.12
	 
	42
	

	SECTION 7.13
	 
	42
	

ARTICLE VIII.

CONCERNING THE SECURITYHOLDERS

	
				
	SECTION 8.01
	 
	46
	

	SECTION 8.02
	 
	47
	

	SECTION 8.03
	 
	47
	

	SECTION 8.04
	 
	48
	

	SECTION 8.05
	 
	48
	

ARTICLE IX.

SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES

	
				
	SECTION 9.01
	 
	49
	

	SECTION 9.02
	 
	50
	

	SECTION 9.03
	 
	51
	

	SECTION 9.04
	 
	51
	

	SECTION 9.05
	 
	51
	

ARTICLE X.

CONSOLIDATION, MERGER AND SALE

	
				
	SECTION 10.01
	 
	51
	

	SECTION 10.02
	 
	52
	

	SECTION 10.03
	 
	53
	

ARTICLE XI.

SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE OF INDENTURE; 
UNCLAIMED MONEYS

	
				
	SECTION 11.01
	 
	53
	

	SECTION 11.02
	 
	54
	

	SECTION 11.03
	 
	54
	

	SECTION 11.04
	 
	54
	

	SECTION 11.05
	 
	55
	

ARTICLE XII.

IMMUNITY OF INCORPORATORS, STOCKHOLDERS, OFFICERS
AND DIRECTORS

	
				
	SECTION 12.01
	 
	55
	

ARTICLE XIII.SUNDRY PROVISIONS

	
				
	SECTION 13.01
	 
	56
	

	SECTION 13.02
	 
	56
	

	SECTION 13.03
	 
	56
	

	SECTION 13.04
	 
	56
	

	SECTION 13.05
	 
	56
	

	SECTION 13.06
	 
	56
	

	SECTION 13.07
	 
	57
	

	SECTION 13.08
	 
	57
	

	SECTION 13.09
	 
	57
	

	SECTION 13.10
	 
	57
	

THIS INDENTURE, dated as of the 31st day of March, 1994, between CENTURY TELEPHONE ENTERPRISES, INC., a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Louisiana (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "Company"), and FIRST AMERICAN BANK & TRUST OF LOUISIANA, a Louisiana banking corporation, as trustee (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "Trustee"):
WHEREAS, for its lawful corporate purposes, the Company has duly authorized the execution and delivery of this Indenture to provide for the issuance of unsecured securities, debentures, notes or other evidences of indebtedness (hereinafter referred to as the "Securities"), in an unlimited aggregate principal amount to be issued from time to time in one or more series as in this Indenture provided as registered Securities without coupons, to be authenticated by the certificate of the Trustee;
WHEREAS, to provide the terms and conditions upon which the Securities are to be authenticated, issued and delivered, the Company has duly authorized the execution of this Indenture;
WHEREAS, the Securities and the certificate of authentication to be borne by the Securities (the "Certificate of Authentication") are to be substantially in such forms as may be approved by the Board of Directors (as defined below) or set forth in any indenture supplemental to this Indenture;
AND WHEREAS, all acts and things necessary to make the Securities issued pursuant hereto, when executed by the Company and authenticated and delivered by the Trustee as in this Indenture provided, the valid, binding and legal obligations of the Company, and to constitute these presents a valid indenture and agreement according to its terms, have been done and performed or will be done and performed prior to the issuance of such Securities, and the execution of this Indenture and the issuance hereunder of the Securities have been or will be prior to issuance in all respects duly authorized, and the Company, in the exercise of the legal right and power in it vested, executes this Indenture and proposes to make, execute, issue and deliver the Securities;
NOW, THEREFORE, THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH:
That in order to declare the terms and conditions upon which the Securities are and are to be authenticated, issued and delivered, and in consideration of the premises, of the purchase and acceptance of the Securities by the holders thereof and of the sum of one dollar ($1.00) to it duly paid by the Trustee at the execution of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, the Company covenants and agrees with the Trustee, for the equal and proportionate benefit (subject to the provisions of this Indenture) of the respective holders from time to time of the Securities, without any discrimination, preference or priority of any one Security over any other by reason of priority in the time of issue, sale or negotiation thereof, or otherwise, except as provided herein, as follows:

ARTICLE I.
DEFINITIONS

SECTION 1.01.  The terms defined in this Section (except as in this Indenture otherwise expressly provided or unless the context otherwise requires) for all purposes of this Indenture, any resolution of the Board of Directors of the Company and of any indenture supplemental hereto shall have the respective meanings specified in this Section. All other terms used in this Indenture which are defined in the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended, or which are by reference in such Act defined in the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (except as herein otherwise expressly provided or unless the context otherwise requires), shall have the meanings assigned to such terms in said Trust Indenture Act and in said Securities Act as in force at the date of the execution of this instrument.
"Affiliate" means any person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by or under direct or indirect common control with the Company. For the purposes of this definition, "control" when used with respect to any specified Person means the power to direct the management and policies of such Person, directly or indirectly, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise, and the terms "controlling" and "controlled" have meanings correlative to the foregoing. 
"Authenticating Agent" means an authenticating agent with respect to all or any of the series of Securities, as the case may be, appointed with respect to all or any series of the Securities, as the case may be, by the Trustee pursuant to Section 2.10.
"Board of Directors" shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company, or a properly empowered Executive or Special Committee of such Board.
"Board Resolution"
shall mean a copy of a resolution certified by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Company to have been duly adopted by the Board of Directors and to be in full force and effect on the date of such certification.
"Business Day",
with respect to any series of securities, shall mean any day other than a day on which banking institutions in the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, as the case may be (depending on whether an office or agency of the Company is being maintained in either such city with respect to any such series), are authorized or obligated by law or executive order to close.

2

"Certificate"
shall mean a certificate signed by the principal executive officer, the principal financial officer, the treasurer or the principal accounting officer of the Company. The Certificate need not comply with the provisions of Section 13.06(a) unless the context shall so require.
"Corporate Trust Office"
shall mean the office of the Trustee at which at any particular time its corporate trust business shall be principally administered, which office at the date of the execution of this Indenture is located at First American Bank & Trust of Louisiana, 1500 North 18th Street, Monroe, Louisiana 71201.
"Company"
shall mean Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc., a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Louisiana, and, subject to the provisions of Article Ten, shall also include its successors and assigns.
"Default"
shall mean any event, act or condition which with notice or lapse of time, or both, would constitute an Event of Default.
"Event of Default"
with respect to Securities of a particular series shall mean any event specified in Section 6.01, continued for the period of time, if any, therein designated.
"Governmental Obligations"
shall mean securities that are (i) direct obligations of the United States of America for the payment of which its full faith and credit is pledged or (ii) obligations of a person controlled or supervised by and acting as an agency or instrumentality of the United States of America, the payment of which is unconditionally guaranteed as a full faith and credit obligation by the United States of America, which, in either case, are not callable or redeemable at the option of the issuer thereof, and shall also include a depositary receipt issued by a bank (as defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) as custodian with respect to any such Governmental Obligation or a specific payment of principal of or interest on any such Governmental Obligation held by such custodian for the account of the holder of such depository receipt; provided that (except as required by law) such custodian is not authorized to make any deduction from the amount payable to the holder of such depository receipt from any amount received by the custodian in respect of the Governmental Obligation or the specific payment of principal of or interest on the Governmental Obligation evidenced by such depository receipt.

3

"Indenture"
shall mean this instrument as originally executed, or, if amended or supplemented as herein provided, as so amended or supplemented.
"Interest Payment Date"
when used with respect to any installment of interest on a Security of a particular series shall mean the date specified in such Security or in a Board Resolution or in an indenture supplemental hereto with respect to such series as the fixed date on which an installment of interest with respect to Securities of that series is due and payable. 
"Officers' Certificate"
 shall mean a certificate signed by the President or the Chief Financial Officer and by the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer or the Controller or an Assistant Controller or the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the Company. Each such certificate shall include the statements provided for in Section 13.06, if and to the extent required by the provisions thereof.
"Opinion of Counsel"
shall mean an opinion in writing signed by legal counsel, who shall be satisfactory to the Trustee and who may be an employee of or counsel for the Company. Each such opinion shall include the statements provided for in Section  13.06, if and to the extent required by the provisions thereof.
"Outstanding"
when used with reference to Securities of any series, shall, subject to the provisions of Section 8.04, mean, as of any particular time, all Securities of that series theretofore authenticated and delivered by the Trustee under this Indenture, except (a) Securities theretofore canceled by the Trustee or any paying agent, or delivered to the Trustee or any paying agent for cancellation or which have previously been canceled; (b) Securities or portions thereof for the payment or redemption of which moneys or Governmental Obligations in the necessary amount shall have been deposited in trust with the Trustee or with any paying agent (other than the Company) or shall have been set aside and segregated in trust by the Company (if the Company shall act as its own paying agent); provided, however, that if such Securities or portions of such Securities are to be redeemed prior to the maturity thereof, notice of such redemption shall have been given as in Article Three provided, or provision satisfactory to the Trustee shall have been made for giving such notice; and (c) Securities in lieu of or in substitution for which other Securities shall have been authenticated and delivered pursuant to the terms of Section 2.07.
"Paying Agent"
means any Person, including the Company or the Trustee, authorized by the Company to pay the principal of, and premium, if any, or interest, if any, on any Securities on behalf of the Company.
"Person"
means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, limited liability company, limited liability partnership or unincorporated organization or any government or any political subdivision, instrumentality or agency thereof.

4

"Predecessor Security"
of any particular Security shall mean every previous Security evidencing all or a portion of the same debt as that evidenced by such particular Security; and, for the purposes of this definition, any Security authenticated and delivered  under Section 2.07 in lieu of a lost, destroyed or stolen Security shall be deemed to evidence the same debt as the lost, destroyed or stolen Security.
"Responsible Officer"
when used with respect to the Trustee shall mean any corporate trust officer or any assistant corporate trust officer or any other officer or assistant officer of the Trustee customarily performing functions similar to those performed by the persons who at the time shall be such officers, respectively, or to whom any corporate trust matter is referred because of his or her knowledge of and familiarity with the particular subject.    
"Security" or "Securities"
 shall mean any Security or Securities, as the case may be, authenticated and delivered under this Indenture.
"Securityholder"
 "holder of Securities", "registered holder", or other similar term, shall mean the person or persons in whose name or names a particular Security shall be registered on the books of the Company kept for that purpose in accordance with the terms of this Indenture.
"Subsidiary"
shall mean (a) any corporation at least a majority of whose outstanding voting stock shall at the time be owned by the Company or by one or more Subsidiaries or by the Company and one or more Subsidiaries and (b) the partnerships, joint ventures and any other entities of which the Company is the managing general partner or otherwise effectively controls such entity. For the purposes only of the definition of the term "Subsidiary", the term "voting stock", as applied to the stock of any corporation, shall mean stock of any class or classes having ordinary voting power for the election of a majority of the directors of such corporation, other than stock having such power only by reason of the occurrence of a contingency.
"Trustee"
shall mean First American Bank & Trust of Louisiana, and, subject to the provisions of Article Seven, shall also include its successors and assigns, and, if at any time there is more than one person acting in such capacity hereunder, "Trustee" shall mean each such person. The term "Trustee" as used with respect to a particular series of the Securities shall mean the trustee with respect to that series.

5

"Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended," subject to the provisions of Sections 9.01, 9.02, and 10.01, shall mean the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended and in effect at the date of execution of this Indenture.

ARTICLE II.
ISSUE, DESCRIPTION, TERMS, EXECUTION, REGISTRATION AND EXCHANGE OF SECURITIES

SECTION 2.01.  The aggregate principal amount of Securities which may be authenticated and delivered under this Indenture is unlimited.
The Securities may be issued in one or more series up to the aggregate principal amount of Securities of that series from time to time authorized by or pursuant to a Board Resolution, or pursuant to one or more indentures supplemental hereto, prior to the initial issuance of  Securities of a particular series. Prior to the initial issuance of Securities of any series, there shall be established in or pursuant to a Board Resolution or established in one or more indentures supplemental hereto:
(1)the title of the Securities of the series (which shall distinguish the Securities of the series from all other Securities);
(2)any limit upon the aggregate principal amount of the Securities of that series which may be authenticated and delivered under this Indenture (except for Securities authenticated and delivered upon registration of transfer of, or in exchange for, or in lieu of, other Securities of that series as provided in Section 2.07 and Section 2.08);
(3)the date or dates on which the principal of the Securities of the series is payable;
(4)the rate or rates at which. the Securities of the series shall bear interest or the manner of calculation of such rate or rates, if any, the date or dates from which such interest shall accrue, the interest payment dates on which such interest shall be payable or the manner of determination of such interest payment dates;
(5)the period or periods within which, the price or prices at which and the terms and conditions upon which, Securities of the series may be redeemed, in whole or in part, at the option of the Company;
(6)the obligation, if any, of the Company to redeem or purchase Securities of the series pursuant to any sinking fund or analogous provisions (including payments made in cash in anticipation of future sinking fund obligations) or at the option of a holder thereof and the period or periods within which, the price or prices at which, and the terms and conditions upon which, Securities of the series shall be redeemed or purchased, in whole or in part, pursuant to such obligation;
(7)the form of the Securities of the series including the form of the Certificate of Authentication for such series;

6

(8)if other than denominations  of $1,000 or any integral multiple thereof, the denominations in which the Securities of the series shall be issuable; and
(9)any and all other terms with respect to such series (which terms shall not be inconsistent with the terms of this Indenture).
All Securities of any one series shall be substantially identical except as to denomination and except as may otherwise be provided in or pursuant to any such Board Resolution or in any indentures supplemental hereto.
If any of the terms of the series are established by action taken pursuant to a Board Resolution, a copy thereof shall be delivered to the Trustee at or prior to the delivery of the Officers' Certificate setting forth the terms of the series.
SECTION 2.02.  The Securities of any series and the Trustee's Certificate of Authentication to be borne by such Securities shall be substantially of the tenor and purport as set forth in one or more indentures supplemental hereto or as provided in a Board Resolution, and may have such letters, numbers, CUSIP numbers or other marks of identification or designation and such legends or endorsements printed, lithographed or engraved thereon as the Company may deem appropriate and as are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Indenture, or as may be required to comply with any law or with any rule or regulation made pursuant thereto or with any rule or regulation of any stock exchange on which Securities of that series may be listed, or to conform to usage.
SECTION 2.03.  The Securities shall be issuable as registered Securities and in the denominations of $1,000 or any multiple thereof, subject to Section 2.01(8). The Securities of a particular series shall bear interest payable on the dates and at the rate specified with respect to that series. The principal of and the interest on the Securities of any series, as well as any premium thereon in case of redemption thereof prior to maturity, shall be payable in the coin or currency of the United States of America which at the time is legal tender for public and private debt, at the office or agency of the Company maintained for that purpose in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, or, at the option of the Company, by check in United States of America dollars mailed or delivered to the person in whose name such Security is registered. Each Security shall be dated the date of its authentication. Interest on the Securities shall be computed on the  basis of a 360-day year composed of twelve 30-day months; provided that interest on Securities bearing interest at a floating rate shall be computed on the basis of a year of 365 or 366 days, as appropriate, for the actual number of days elapsed.
The interest installment on any Security which is payable, and is punctually paid or duly provided for, on any interest payment date for Securities of that series shall be paid to the person in whose name said Security (or one or more predecessor Securities) is registered at the close of business on the regular record date for such interest installment. In the event that any Security of a particular series or portion thereof is called for redemption and the redemption date is subsequent to a regular record date with respect to any interest payment date and prior to such interest payment date, interest on such Security will be paid upon presentation and surrender of such Security as provided in Section 3.03.
Any interest on any Security which is payable, but is not punctually paid or duly provided for, on any interest payment date for Securities of the same series (herein called "Defaulted Interest") shall forthwith cease to be payable to the registered holder on the relevant regular record date by virtue of having been such holder; and such Defaulted Interest shall be paid by the Company, at its election, as provided in clause (1) or clause (2) below:

7

(1)The Company may make payment of any Defaulted Interest on Securities to the persons in whose names such Securities (or their respective Predecessor Securities) are registered at the close of business on a special record date for the payment of such Defaulted Interest which shall be fixed in the following manner: the Company shall notify the Trustee in writing of the amount of Defaulted Interest proposed to be paid on each such Security and the date of the proposed payment, and at the same time the Company shall deposit with the Trustee an amount of money equal to the aggregate amount proposed to be paid in respect of such Defaulted Interest or shall make arrangements satisfactory to the Trustee for such deposit prior to the date of the proposed payment, such money when deposited to be held in trust for the benefit of the persons entitled to such Defaulted Interest as in this clause provided. Thereupon the Trustee shall fix a special record date for the payment of such Defaulted Interest which shall not be more than 15 or less than 10 days prior to the  date of the proposed payment and not less than 10 days after the receipt by the Trustee of the notice of the proposed payment. The Trustee shall promptly notify the Company of such special record date and, in the name and at the expense of the Company, shall cause notice of the proposed payment of such Defaulted Interest and the special record date therefor to be mailed, first class postage prepaid, to each Securityholder at his or her address as it appears in the Security Register (as hereinafter defined), not less than 10 days prior to such special record date. Notice of the proposed payment of such Defaulted Interest and the special record date therefor having been mailed as aforesaid, such Defaulted Interest shall be paid to the persons in whose names such Securities (or their respective Predecessor Securities) are registered on the close of business on such special  record date and shall be no longer payable pursuant to the following clause (2).
(2)The Company may make payment of any Defaulted Interest on any Securities in any other lawful manner not inconsistent with the requirements of any securities exchange on which such Securities may be listed, and upon such notice as may be required by such exchange, if, after notice given by the Company to the Trustee of the proposed payment pursuant to this clause, such manner of payment shall be deemed practicable by the Trustee.
The term "regular record date" as used in this Section with respect to a series of Securities with respect to any interest payment date for such series shall mean either the fifteenth day of the month immediately preceding the month in which an interest payment date established for such series pursuant to Section 2.01 hereof shall occur, if such interest payment date is the first day of a month, or the last day of the month immediately preceding the month in which  an interest payment date established for such series pursuant to Section 2.01 hereof shall occur, if such interest payment date is the fifteenth day of a month, whether or not such date is a Business Day.
Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Section, each Security of a series delivered under this Indenture upon transfer of or in exchange for or in lieu of any other Security of such series shall carry the  rights to interest accrued and unpaid, and to accrue, which were carried by such other Security.

8

SECTION 2.04. The Securities shall, subject to the provisions of Section 2.06, be printed on steel engraved borders or fully or partially engraved, or legibly typed, as the proper officers of the Company may determine, and shall be signed on behalf of the Company by its President or one of its Vice Presidents, under its corporate seal attested by its Secretary or one of its  Assistant Secretaries. The signature of the President or a Vice President and/or the signature of the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary in attestation of the corporate seal, upon the Securities, may be in the form of a facsimile signature of a present or any future President or Vice President and of a present or any future Secretary or Assistant Secretary and may be imprinted or otherwise reproduced on the Securities and for that purpose the Company may use the facsimile signature of any person who shall have been a President or Vice President, or of any person who shall have been a Secretary or Assistant Secretary, notwithstanding the fact that at the time the Securities shall be authenticated and delivered or disposed of such person shall have ceased to be the President or a Vice President, or the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary, of the Company, as the case may be. The seal of the Company may be in the form of a facsimile of the seal of the Company and may be impressed, affixed, imprinted or otherwise reproduced on the Securities.
Only such Securities of a series as shall bear thereon a certificate of authentication substantially in the form established for such series, executed manually by an authorized signatory of the Trustee, or by any Authenticating Agent appointed by the Trustee with respect to such series, shall be entitled to the benefits of this Indenture or be valid or obligatory for any purpose. Such certificate executed by the Trustee, or by any Authenticating Agent appointed by the Trustee with respect to such series, upon any Security of such series executed by the Company shall be conclusive evidence that the Security so authenticated has been duly authenticated and delivered hereunder and that the holder is entitled to the benefits of this Indenture.
At any time and from time to time after the execution and delivery of this Indenture, the Company may deliver Securities of any series executed by the Company to the Trustee for authentication, together with a written order of the Company for the authentication and delivery of such Securities, signed by its President or any Vice President and its Treasurer or any Assistant Treasurer, and the Trustee in accordance with such written order shall authenticate and deliver such Securities.
In authenticating Securities of any series and accepting the additional responsibilities under this Indenture in relation to such Securities, the Trustee shall be entitled to receive, and (subject to Section 7.01) shall be fully protected in relying upon, an Opinion of Counsel stating that the form and terms thereof have been established in conformity with the provisions of this Indenture and that such Securities, when authenticated and delivered by the Trustee, will be duly authorized, executed and delivered and will constitute the legal, valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against it in accordance with their terms.
The Trustee shall not be required to authenticate any Securities of a series if the issue of such Securities pursuant to this Indenture will affect the Trustee's own rights, duties or immunities under the Securities and this Indenture or otherwise in a manner which is not reasonably acceptable to the Trustee.

 

9

SECTION 2.05. (a) Securities of any series may be exchanged upon presentation thereof at the office or agency of the Company designated for such purpose in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, for other Securities of such series of authorized denominations, and for a like aggregate principal amount, upon payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge in relation thereto, all as provided in this Section. In respect of any Securities so  surrendered for exchange, the Company shall execute, the Trustee shall authenticate and such office or agency shall deliver in exchange therefor the Security or Securities of the same series which the Securityholder making the exchange shall be entitled to receive, bearing numbers not contemporaneously outstanding.
(b) The Trustee is hereby appointed as the registrar (the "Security Registrar") for the purpose of registering securities and the transfer of securities as herein provided. The Company shall cause to-be kept at the office or agency designated for such purpose in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, or such other location designated by the Company a register or registers (herein referred to as the "Security Register") in which, subject to such reasonable regulations as it may prescribe, the Company shall register the Securities and the transfers of Securities as in this Article provided.    
Upon surrender for transfer of any Security at the office or agency of the Company designated for such purpose in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, the Company shall execute, the Trustee shall authenticate and such office or agency shall deliver in the name of the transferee or transferees a new Security or Securities of the same series as the Security presented for a like aggregate principal amount.

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All Securities presented or surrendered for exchange or registration of transfer, as provided in this Section, shall be accompanied (if so required by the Company or the Security Registrar) by a written instrument or instruments of transfer, in form satisfactory to the Company or the Security Registrar, duly executed by the registered holder or by his duly authorized attorney in writing.
(a)No service charge shall be made for any exchange or registration of transfer of Securities, or issue of new Securities in case of partial redemption of any series, but the Company may require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge in relation thereto, other than exchanges pursuant to Section 2.06, the second paragraph of Section 3.03 and Section 9.04 not involving any transfer.
(b)The Company shall not be required (a) to issue, exchange or register the transfer of the Securities of any series during a period beginning at the opening of business 15 days before the day of the mailing of a notice of redemption of less than all the Outstanding Securities of such series and ending at the close of business on the day of such mailing, nor (b) to register the transfer of or exchange any Securities of any series or portions thereof called for redemption.

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SECTION 2.06. Pending the preparation of definitive Securities of any series, the Company may execute, and the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver, temporary Securities (printed, lithographed or typewritten) of any authorized denomination, and substantially in the form of the definitive Securities in lieu of which they are issued, but with such omissions, insertions and variations as may be appropriate for temporary Securities, all as may be determined by the Company. Every temporary Security of any series shall be executed by the Company and be authenticated by the Trustee upon the same conditions and in substantially the same manner, and with like effect, as the definitive Securities of such series. Without unnecessary delay the Company will execute and will furnish definitive Securities of such series and thereupon any or all temporary Securities of such series may be surrendered in exchange therefor (without charge to the holders), at the office or agency of the Company designated for the purpose in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, and the Trustee shall authenticate and such office or agency shall deliver in exchange for such temporary Securities an equal aggregate principal amount of definitive Securities of such series. Until so exchanged, the temporary Securities of such series shall be entitled to the same benefits under this Indenture as definitive Securities of such series authenticated and delivered hereunder.
SECTION 2.07. In case any temporary or definitive Security shall become mutilated or be destroyed, lost or stolen, the Company (subject to the next succeeding sentence) shall execute, and upon its request the Trustee (subject as aforesaid) shall authenticate and deliver, a new Security of the same series bearing a number not contemporaneously outstanding, in exchange and substitution for the mutilated Security, or in lieu of and in substitution for the Security so destroyed, lost or stolen. In every case the applicant for a substituted Security shall furnish to the Company and to the Trustee such security or indemnity as may be required by them to save each of them harmless, and, in every case of destruction, loss or theft, the applicant shall also furnish to the Company and to the Trustee evidence to their satisfaction of the destruction, loss or theft of the applicant's Security and of the ownership thereof. The Trustee may authenticate any such substituted Security and deliver the same upon the written request or authorization of any officer of the Company. Upon the issue of any substituted Security, the Company may require the payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge that may be imposed in relation thereto and any other expenses (including the fees and expenses of the Trustee) connected therewith. In case any Security which has matured or is about to mature shall become mutilated or be destroyed, lost or stolen, the Company may, instead of issuing a substitute Security, pay or authorize the payment of the same (without surrender thereof except in the case of a mutilated Security) if the applicant for such payment shall furnish to the Company and to the Trustee such security or indemnity as they may require to save them harmless, and, in case of destruction, loss or theft, evidence to the satisfaction of the Company and the Trustee of the destruction, loss or theft of such Security and of the ownership thereof.
Every Security issued pursuant to the provisions of this Section in substitution for any Security which is mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen shall constitute an additional contractual obligation of the Company, whether or not the mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security shall be found at any time, or be enforceable by anyone, and shall be entitled to all the benefits of this Indenture equally and proportionately with any and all other Securities of the same series duly issued hereunder. All Securities shall be held and owned upon the express condition that the foregoing provisions are exclusive with respect to the replacement or payment of mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Securities, and shall preclude (to the extent lawful) any and all other rights or  remedies, notwithstanding any law or statute existing or hereafter enacted to the contrary with respect to the replacement or payment of negotiable instruments or other securities without their surrender.

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SECTION 2.08. All Securities surrendered for the purpose of payment, redemption, exchange or registration of transfer shall, if surrendered to the Company or any paying agent, be delivered to the Trustee for cancellation, or, if surrendered to the Trustee, shall be canceled by it, and no Securities shall be issued in lieu thereof except as expressly required or permitted by any of the provisions of this Indenture. On request of the Company, the Trustee shall deliver to the Company canceled Securities held by the Trustee. In the absence of such request the Trustee may destroy canceled Securities in accordance with its standard procedures and deliver a certificate of destruction to the Company. If the Company shall otherwise acquire any of the Securities, however, such acquisition shall not operate as a redemption or satisfaction of the indebtedness represented by such Securities unless and until the same are delivered to the Trustee for cancellation.
 SECTION 2.09. Nothing in this Indenture or in the Securities, express or implied, shall give or be construed to give to any person, firm or corporation, other than the parties hereto and the holders of the Securities, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of this Indenture, or under any covenant, condition or provision herein contained; all such covenants, conditions and provisions being for the sole benefit of the parties hereto and of the holders of the Securities.

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SECTION 2.10. So long as any of the Securities of any series remain Outstanding there may be an Authenticating Agent for any or all such series of Securities which the Trustee shall have the right to appoint. Said Authenticating Agent shall be authorized to act on behalf of the Trustee to authenticate Securities of such series issued upon exchange, transfer or partial redemption thereof, and Securities so authenticated shall be entitled to the benefits of this Indenture and shall be valid and obligatory for all purposes as if authenticated by the Trustee hereunder. All references in this Indenture to the authentication of Securities by the Trustee shall be deemed to include authentication by an Authenticating Agent for such series except for authentication upon original issuance or pursuant to Section 2.07 hereof. Each Authenticating Agent shall be acceptable to the Company and shall be a corporation which has a combined capital and surplus, as most recently reported or determined by it, sufficient under the laws of any jurisdiction under which it is organized or in which it is doing business to conduct a trust business, and which is otherwise authorized under such laws to conduct such business and is subject to supervision or examination by Federal or State authorities. If at any time any Authenticating Agent shall cease to be eligible in accordance with these provisions, it shall resign immediately. All fees and expenses of the Authenticating Agent shall be paid by the Company.
Any Authenticating Agent may at any time resign by giving written notice of resignation to the Trustee and to the Company. The Trustee may at any time (and upon request by the Company shall) terminate the agency of any Authenticating Agent by giving written notice of termination to such Authenticating Agent and to the Company. Upon resignation, termination or cessation of eligibility of any Authenticating Agent, the Trustee may appoint an eligible successor Authenticating Agent acceptable to the Company. Any successor Authenticating Agent, upon acceptance of its appointment hereunder, shall become vested with all the rights, powers and duties of its predecessor, hereunder as if originally named as an Authenticating Agent pursuant hereto.
SECTION 2.11. The Company in issuing Securities of any series shall use a "CUSIP" number and the Trustee shall use the CUSIP number in notices of redemption or exchange as a convenience to the holders of the Securities of such series; provided, that any such notice may state that no representation is made as to the correctness or accuracy of the CUSIP number printed in the notice or on the Securities of such series, and that reliance may be placed only on the other identification numbers printed on the Securities of such series.
SECTION 2.12. Prior to due presentment of a Security for registration of transfer, the Company, the Trustee and any agent of the Company or the Trustee may treat the Person in whose name such Security is registered as the owner of such Security for the purpose of receiving payments of principal of (and premium, if any), and (subject to Section 2.03) interest on such Security and for all other purposes whatsoever, whether or not such Security be overdue, and neither the Company, the Trustee nor any agent of the Company or the Trustee, shall be affected by notice to the contrary.

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ARTICLE III.

REDEMPTION OF SECURITIES AND SINKING FUND PROVISIONS

SECTION 3.01. The Company may redeem the Securities of any series issued hereunder on and after the dates and in accordance with the terms established for such series pursuant to Section 2.01 hereof.
SECTION 3.02. (a) In case the Company shall desire to exercise such right to redeem all or, as the case may be, a portion of the Securities of any series in accordance with the right reserved so to do, the Company shall give notice of such redemption to holders of the Securities of such series to be redeemed and to the Trustee by mailing, first class postage prepaid, a notice of such redemption not less than 30 days and not more than 60 days before the date fixed for redemption of that series to such holders at their last addresses as they shall appear upon the Security Register. Any notice which is mailed in the manner herein provided shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly given, whether or not the registered holder receives the notice. In any case, failure duly to give such notice to the holder of any Security of any series designated for redemption in whole or in part, or any defect in the notice, shall not affect the validity of the proceedings for the redemption of any other Securities of such series or any other series. In the case of any redemption of Securities prior to the expiration of any restriction on such redemption provided in the terms of such Securities or elsewhere in this Indenture, the Company shall furnish the Trustee with an Officers' Certificate evidencing compliance with any such restriction. 
Each such notice of redemption shall specify the date fixed for redemption and the redemption price at which Securities of that series are to be redeemed, and shall state that payment of the redemption price of such Securities to be redeemed will be made at the office or agency of the Company in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, or, at the option of the Company, by check in United States of America dollars mailed or delivered to the person in whose name such Security is registered, or upon presentation and surrender of such Securities, that interest accrued to the date fixed for redemption will be paid as specified in said notice, that from and after said date interest will cease to accrue and that the redemption is for a sinking fund, if such is the case. If less than all the Securities of a series are to be redeemed, the notice to the holders of Securities of that series to be redeemed in whole or in part shall specify the particular Securities to be so redeemed. In case any Security is to be redeemed in part only, the notice which relates to such Security shall state the portion of the principal amount thereof to be redeemed, and shall state that on and after the redemption date, upon surrender of such Security, a new Security or Securities of such series in principal amount equal to the unredeemed portion thereof will be issued.
(b) If less than all the Securities of a series are to be redeemed, the Company shall give the Trustee at least 45 days' notice in advance of the date fixed for redemption as to the aggregate principal amount of Securities of the series to be redeemed, and thereupon the Trustee shall select, by lot or in such other manner as it shall deem appropriate and fair in its discretion and which may provide for the selection of a portion or portions (equal to $1,000 or any multiple thereof) of the principal amount of such Securities of a denomination larger than $1,000, the Securities to be redeemed- and shall thereafter promptly notify the Company in writing of the numbers of the Securities to be redeemed, in whole or in part.

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The Company may, if and whenever it shall so elect, by delivery of instructions signed on its behalf by its President or any Vice President, instruct the Trustee or any paying agent to call all or any part of the Securities of a particular series for redemption and to give notice of redemption in the manner set forth in this Section, such notice to be in the name of the Company or its own name as the Trustee or such paying agent may deem advisable. In any case in which notice of redemption is to be given by any such paying agent, the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to, or permit to remain with, such paying agent, as the case may be, such Security Registrar, transfer books or other records, or suitable copies or extracts therefrom, sufficient to enable the paying agent to give any notice by mail that may be required under the provisions of this Section.
SECTION 3.03.  (a) If the giving of notice of redemption shall have been completed as above provided, the Securities or portions of Securities of the series to be redeemed specified in such notice shall become due and payable on the date and at the place stated in such notice at the applicable redemption price, together with interest accrued to the date fixed for redemption and interest on such Securities or portions of Securities shall cease to accrue on and after the date fixed for redemption, unless the Company shall default in the payment of such redemption price and accrued interest with respect to any such Security or portion thereof. On presentation and surrender of such Securities on or after the date fixed for redemption at the place of payment specified in the notice, said Securities shall be paid and redeemed at the applicable redemption price for such series, together with interest accrued thereon to the date fixed for redemption (but if the date fixed for redemption is an interest payment date, the interest installment payable on such date shall be payable to the registered holder at the close of business on the applicable record date pursuant to Section 2.03).
(b) Upon presentation of any Security of such series which is to be redeemed in part only, the Company shall execute and the Trustee shall authenticate and the office or agency where the Security is presented shall deliver to the holder thereof, at the expense of the Company, a new Security or Securities of the same series, of authorized denominations in principal amount equal to the unredeemed portion of the Security so presented.

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SECTION 3.04. The provisions of Sections 3.04, 3.05 and 3.06 shall be applicable to any sinking fund for the retirement of Securities of a series, except as otherwise specified as contemplated by Section 2.01 for Securities of such series.
The minimum amount of any sinking fund payment provided for by the terms of Securities of any series is herein referred to as a "mandatory sinking fund payment", and any payment in excess of such minimum amount provided for by the terms of Securities of any series is herein referred to as an "optional sinking fund payment". If a sinking fund is provided  for by the terms of Securities of any series, the cash amount of any sinking fund payment may be subject to reduction as provided in Section 3.05. Each sinking fund payment shall be applied to the redemption of Securities of any series as provided for by the terms of Securities of such series.
SECTION 3.05. The Company (1) may deliver Outstanding Securities of a series (other than any previously called for redemption) and (2) may apply as a credit Securities of a series which have been redeemed either at the election of the Company or the holders pursuant to the terms of such Securities or through the application of permitted optional sinking fund payments pursuant to the terms of the Securities of such series, in each case in satisfaction of all or any part of any sinking fund payment with respect to the Securities of such series required to be made pursuant to the terms of such Securities as provided for by the terms of such series; provided that such Securities have not been previously so credited. Such Securities shall be received and credited for such purpose by the Trustee at the redemption price specified in such Securities for redemption through operation of the sinking fund and the amount of such sinking fund payment shall be reduced accordingly.
SECTION 3.06. Not less than 45 days prior to each sinking fund payment date for any series of Securities, the Company will deliver to the Trustee an Officers' Certificate specifying the amount of the next ensuing sinking fund payment for that series pursuant to the terms of that series, the portion thereof, if any, which is to be satisfied by delivering and crediting Securities of that series pursuant to Section 3.05 and the basis for such credit and will also deliver to the Trustee any Securities to be so delivered. Not less than 30 days before each such sinking fund payment date, the Trustee shall select the Securities to be redeemed upon such sinking fund payment date in the manner specified in Section 3.02 and cause notice of the redemption thereof to be given in the name of and at the expense of the Company in the manner provided in Section 3.02. Such notice having been duly given, the redemption of such Securities shall be made upon the terms and in the manner stated in Section 3.03.

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ARTICLE IV.

PARTICULAR COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY

The Company covenants and agrees for each series of the Securities as follows: 

SECTION 4.01. The Company will duly and punctually pay or cause to be paid the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on the Securities of that series at the time and place and in the manner provided herein and established with respect to such Securities.
SECTION 4.02. So long as any series of the Securities remain Outstanding, the Company agrees to maintain an office or agency in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of  Manhattan, the City and State of New York, with respect to each such series and at such other location or locations as may be designated as provided in this Section 4.02, where (i) Securities of that series may be presented for payment, (ii) Securities of that series may be presented as hereinabove authorized for registration of transfer and exchange, and (iii) notices and demands to or upon the Company in respect of the Securities of that series and this Indenture may be given or served. As to such office or agency in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana, or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, the Company shall designate the required office or agency to be located in either the City of Monroe, State of Louisiana or the Borough of Manhattan, the City and State of New York, for each series of Securities, such designation to continue with respect to such office or agency until the Company shall, by written notice signed by its President or a Vice President and delivered to the Trustee, designate some other office or agency for such purposes or any of them. If at any time the Company shall fail to maintain any such required office or agency or shall fail to furnish the Trustee with the address thereof, such presentations, notices and demands may be made or served at the Corporate Trust Office of the Trustee, and the Company hereby appoints the Trustee as its agent to receive all such presentations, notices and demands.
SECTION 4.03. (a) If the Company shall appoint one or  more paying agents for all or any series of the Securities, other than the Trustee, the Company will cause each such paying agent to execute and deliver to the Trustee an instrument in which such agent shall agree with the Trustee, subject to the provisions of this Section, 
(1)that it will hold all sums held by it as such agent for the payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) or interest on the Securities of that series (whether such sums have been paid to it by the Company or by any other obligor on such Securities) in trust for the benefit of the persons entitled thereto;
(2)that it will give the Trustee notice of any failure by the Company (or by any other obligor on such Securities) to make any payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) or interest on the Securities of that series when the same shall be due and payable;
(3)that it will, at any time during the continuance of any failure referred to in the preceding paragraph (a)(2) above, upon the written request of the Trustee, forthwith pay to the Trustee all sums so held in trust by such paying agent; and

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(4)that it will perform all other duties of paying agent as set forth in this Indenture.
(b) If the Company shall act as its own paying agent with respect to any series of the Securities, it will on or before each due date of the principal of (and premium, if any) or interest on Securities of that series, set aside, segregate and hold in trust for the benefit of the persons entitled thereto a sum sufficient to pay such principal (and premium, if any or interest so becoming due on Securities of that series until such sums shall be paid to such persons or otherwise disposed of as herein provided and will promptly notify the Trustee of such action, or any failure (by it or any other obligor on such Securities) to take such action. Whenever the Company shall have one or more paying agents for any series of Securities, it will, prior to each due date of the principal of (and premium, if any) or interest on any Securities of that series, deposit with a paying agent a sum sufficient to pay the principal (and premium, if any) or interest so becoming due, such sum to be held in trust for the benefit of the persons entitled to such principal, premium or interest, and (unless such paying agent is the Trustee) the Company will promptly notify the Trustee of its action or failure so to act.
(c) Anything in this Section to the contrary notwithstanding, (i) the agreement to hold sums in trust as provided in this Section is subject to the provisions of Section 11.05, and (ii) the Company may at any time, for the purpose of obtaining the satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture or for any other purpose, pay, or direct any paying agent to pay, to the Trustee all sums held in trust by the Company or such paying agent, such sums to be held by the Trustee upon the same terms as those upon which sums were held by the Company or such paying agent; and, upon such payment by any paying agent to the Trustee, such paying agent shall be released from all further liability with respect to such money.

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SECTION 4.04. The Company, whenever necessary to avoid or fill a vacancy in the office of Trustee, will appoint, in the manner provided in Section 7.10, a Trustee, so that there shall at all times be a Trustee hereunder. 
SECTION 4.05. The Company will not, while any of the Securities remain Outstanding, create, or suffer to be created or to exist, any mortgage, lien, pledge, security interest or other encumbrance of any kind upon any property of any character of the Company whether now owned or hereafter acquired or upon any of the income or profits therefrom unless it shall make effective provision whereby the Securities then Outstanding shall be secured by such mortgage, lien, pledge, security interest or other encumbrance equally and ratably with any and all obligations and indebtedness thereby secured so long as any such obligations and indebtedness shall be so secured; provided, however, that nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the Company from creating, or from suffering to be created or to exist, any mortgages, liens, pledges, security interests or other encumbrances, or any agreements, with respect to:
(1)Purchase money mortgages, or other purchase money liens, pledges or encumbrances of any kind upon property hereafter acquired by the Company, or mortgages, liens, pledges, security interests or other encumbrances of any kind existing on such property at the time of the acquisition thereof, or conditional sales agreements or other title retention agreements with respect to any property hereafter acquired; provided, however, that no such mortgage, lien, pledge, security interest or other encumbrance, and no such agreement, shall extend to or cover any other property of the Company;
(2)Liens, pledges, security interests, mortgages or other encumbrances of any kind on the shares of stock of a corporation which, when such liens, pledges, security interests, mortgages or other encumbrances arise, concurrently becomes a Subsidiary or liens, pledges, security interests, mortgages or other encumbrances on all or substantially all of the assets of a corporation arising in connection with the purchase or acquisition thereof by the Company, provided that such lien or other security interest shall not attach to any other assets of the Company;

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(3)Liens for taxes, assessments, governmental charges or levies; pledges or deposits to secure obligations under worker's compensation or unemployment insurance laws or similar legislation; pledges or deposits to secure performance in connection with bids, tenders, contracts, performance bonds and other similar arrangements (other than contracts for the payment of money) or leases to which the Company is a party; deposits to secure public or statutory obligations of the Company; materialmen’s, mechanics', carriers', workers', repairmen's or other like liens in the  ordinary course of business, or deposits to obtain the release of such liens; deposits to secure surety and appeal bonds to which the Company is a party, other pledges or deposits for similar purposes in the ordinary course of business; liens created by or resulting from any litigation or legal proceeding which at the time is currently being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings; leases made, or existing on property acquired, in the ordinary course of business; landlord's liens under leases to which the Company is a party; zoning restrictions, easements, licenses, restrictions on the use of real property or minor irregularities in title thereto, which do not materially impair the use of such property in the operation of the business of the Company or the value of such property for the purpose of such business; the lien of the trustee under any indenture (including this Indenture), liens encumbering property or assets under construction arising from progress or partial payments; liens arising from the filing of UCC financing statements regarding leases or consignments; any interest or title of a lessor in the property subject to any capitalized lease or operating lease; liens arising out of consignment or similar arrangements entered into in the ordinary course of business; and liens existing on the date of this Indenture;
(4)Indebtedness assumed by the Company of the character specified in the first proviso of Section 4.06 hereof; or
(5)The replacement, extension or renewal of any mortgage, lien, pledge, security interest or other encumbrance, or of any agreement, permitted by the foregoing clauses (1), (2), (3), (4), or the replacement, extension or renewal (without increase) of the indebtedness secured thereby.
SECTION 4.06. The Company will not, while any of the Securities remain Outstanding, consolidate with, or merge into, or merge into itself, or sell or convey all or substantially all of its property to, any other Company unless the provisions of Article Ten hereof are complied with. 
If upon any such consolidation or merger, or sale or conveyance, any of the property of the Company owned by the Company prior thereto would thereupon become subject to any mortgage, security interest, pledge or lien, the Company prior to such consolidation, merger, sale or conveyance will secure the Outstanding Securities, or cause the same to be secured, equally and ratably with the other indebtedness or obligations secured by such mortgage, security interest, pledge or lien so long as such other indebtedness or obligations shall be so secured; provided, however, that the subjection of the property of the Company to any mortgage, security interest, pledge or lien securing indebtedness of an Affiliate which is required to be assumed by the Company in connection with any merger or consolidation of such Affiliate shall be deemed excluded from the operation of this Section and shall not require that any of the Securities be secured; and provided, further, that the subjection of property of the Company to any mortgage, security interest, pledge or lien of the character referred to in clauses (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of Section 4.05 shall be deemed excluded from the operation of this Section and shall not require that any of the Securities be secured.

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ARTICLE V.

SECURITYHOLDERS' LISTS AND REPORTS BY THE COMPANY
AND THE TRUSTEE

SECTION 5.01. The Company will furnish or cause to be furnished to the Trustee (a) semi-annually, not more than 15 days after each regular record date (as defined in Section 2.03) a list, in such form as the Trustee may reasonably require, of the names and addresses of the holders of each series of Securities as of such regular record date and (b) at such other times as the Trustee may request in writing, within 30 days after the receipt by the Company of any such request, a list of similar form and content as of a date not more than 15 days prior to the time such list is furnished; provided, however, no such list need be furnished for any series for which the Trustee shall be the Security Registrar.
SECTION 5.02.
(a)The Trustee shall preserve, in as current a form as is reasonably practicable, all information as to the names and addresses of the holders of Securities contained in the most recent list furnished to it as provided in Section 5.01 and as to the names and addresses of holders of Securities received by the Trustee in its capacity as Security Registrar (if acting in such capacity).
(b)The Trustee may destroy any list furnished to it as provided in Section 5.01 upon receipt of a new list so furnished.
(c)In case three or more holders of Securities of a series (hereinafter referred to as "applicants") apply in writing to the Trustee, and furnish to the Trustee reasonable proof that each such applicant has owned a Security for a period of at least six months preceding the date of such application, and such application states that the applicant's desire to communicate with other holders of Securities of such series or holders of all Securities with respect to their rights under this Indenture or under such Securities, and is accompanied by a copy of the form of proxy or other communication which such applicants propose to transmit, then the Trustee shall, within five business days after the receipt of such application, at its election, either
(1)afford to such applicants access to the information preserved at the time by the Trustee in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, or    
(2)inform such applicants as to the approximate number of holders of Securities of such series or of all Securities, as the case may be, whose names and addresses appear in the information preserved at the time by the Trustee, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, and as to the approximate cost of mailing to such Securityholders the form of proxy or other communication, if any, specified in such application.

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(d)If the Trustee shall elect not to afford such applicants access to such information, the Trustee shall, upon the written request of such applicants, mail to each holder of such series or of all Securities, as the case may be, whose name and address appears in the information preserved at the time by the Trustee in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, a copy of the form of proxy or other communication which is specified in such request, with reasonable promptness after a tender to the Trustee of the material to be mailed and of payment, or provision for the payment, of the reasonable expenses of mailing, unless within five days after such tender, the Trustee shall mail to such applicants and file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, together with a copy of the material to be mailed, a written statement to the effect that, in the opinion of the Trustee, such mailing would be contrary to the best interests of the holders of Securities of such series or of all Securities, as the case may be, or would be in violation of applicable law. Such written statement shall specify the basis of such opinion. If said Commission, after opportunity for a hearing upon the objections specified in the written statement so filed, shall enter an order refusing to sustain any of such objections or if, after the entry of an order sustaining one or more of such objections, said Commission shall find, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that all the objections so sustained have been met and shall enter an order so declaring, the Trustee shall mail copies of such material to all such Securityholders with reasonable promptness after the entry of such order and the renewal of such tender; otherwise the Trustee shall be relieved of any obligation or duty to such applicants respecting their application. 
(e)Each and every holder of the Securities, by receiving and holding the same, agrees with the Company and the Trustee that neither the Company nor the Trustee nor any paying agent nor any Security Registrar shall be held accountable by reason of the disclosure of any such information as to the names and addresses of the holders of Securities in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section, regardless of the source from which such information was derived, and that the Trustee shall not be held accountable by reason of mailing any material pursuant to a request made under said subsection (b).

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SECTION 5.03. 
(a)The Company covenants and agrees to file with the Trustee, within 15 days after the Company is required to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of the annual reports and of the information, documents and other reports (or copies of such portions of any of the foregoing as said Commission may from time to time by rules and regulations prescribe) which the Company may be required to file with said Commission pursuant to Section 13, Section 14 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; or, if the Company is not required to file information, documents or reports pursuant to any of such sections, then to file with the Trustee and said Commission, in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed from time to time by said Commission, such of the supplementary and periodic information, documents and reports which may be required pursuant to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, in respect of a security listed and registered on a national securities exchange as may be prescribed from time to time in such rules and regulations.
(b)The Company covenants and agrees to file with Trustee and the Securities and Exchange Commission, in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed from time to time by said Commission, such additional information, documents and reports with respect to compliance by the Company with the conditions and covenants provided for in this Indenture as may be required from time to time by such rules and regulations.
(c)The Company covenants and agrees to, or cause the Trustee to, transmit by mail, first class postage prepaid, or reputable over-night delivery service which provides for evidence of receipt, to the Securityholders, as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register, within 30 days after the filing thereof with the Trustee, such summaries of any information, documents and reports required to be filed by the Company pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this Section as may be required by rules and regulations prescribed from time to time by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
(d)The Company covenants and agrees to furnish to the Trustee within 135 days of each fiscal year in which any of the Securities are Outstanding, or on or before such other day in each calendar year as the Company and the Trustee may from time to time agree upon, a certificate from the principal executive officer, principal financial officer or principal accounting officer as to his or her knowledge of the Company's compliance with all conditions and covenants under this Indenture. For purposes of this subsection (d), such compliance shall be determined without regard to any period of grace or requirement of notice provided under this Indenture. 

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SECTION 5.04.
(a)On or before July 15 in each year in which any Securities are Outstanding hereunder, the Trustee shall transmit by mail, first class postage prepaid, to the Securityholders, as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register, a brief report dated as of the preceding May 15, with respect to any of the following events which may have occurred within the previous twelve months(but if no such event has occurred within such period no report need be transmitted):
(1)any change to its eligibility under Section 7.09, and its qualifications under Section 7.08;
(2)the creation of or any material change to a relationship specified in paragraphs (1) through (10) of subsection (c) of Section 310(b) of the Trust Indenture Act;
(3)the character and amount of any advances (and if the Trustee elects so to state, the circumstances surrounding the making thereof) made by the Trustee (as such) which remain unpaid on the date of such report, and for the reimbursement of which it claims or may claim a lien or charge, prior to that of the Securities, on any property or funds held or collected by it as Trustee if such advances so remaining unpaid aggregate more than 1/2 of 1% of the principal amount of the Securities outstanding on the date of such report;
(4)any change to the amount, interest rate, and maturity date of all other indebtedness owing by the Company, or by any other obligor on the Securities, to the Trustee in its individual capacity, on the date of such report, with a brief description of any property held as collateral security therefor, except any indebtedness based upon a creditor relationship arising in any manner described in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), or (6) of subsection (b) of Section 7.13;
(5)any change to the property and funds, if any, physically in the possession of the Trustee as such on the date of such report;
(6)any release, or release and substitution, of property subject to the lien of this Indenture (and the consideration thereof, if any) which it has not previously reported;
(7)any additional issue of Securities which the Trustee has not previously reported; and
(8)any action taken by the Trustee in the performance of its duties under this Indenture which it has not previously reported and which in its opinion materially affects the Securities or the Securities of any series, except any action in respect of a default, notice of which has been or is to be withheld by it in accordance with the provisions of Section 6.07.

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(b)    The Trustee shall transmit by mail, first class postage prepaid, to the Securityholders, as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register, a brief report with respect to the character and amount of any advances (and if the Trustee elects so to state, the circumstances surrounding the making thereof) made by the Trustee as such since the date of the last report transmitted pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section (or if no such report has yet been so transmitted, since the date of execution of this Indenture), for the reimbursement of which it claims or may claim a lien or charge prior to that of the Securities of any series on property or funds held or collected by it as Trustee, and which it has not previously reported pursuant to this subsection if such advances remaining unpaid at any time aggregate more than 10% of the principal amount of Securities of such series Outstanding at such time, such report to be transmitted within 90 days after such time.
(c)     A copy of each such report shall, at the time of such transmission to Securityholders, be filed by the Trustee with the Company, with each stock exchange upon which any Securities are listed (if so listed) and also with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company agrees to notify the Trustee when any Securities become listed on any stock exchange.

ARTICLE VI.

REMEDIES OF THE TRUSTEE AND SECURITYHOLDERS
ON EVENT OF DEFAULT

SECTION 6.01.
(a)Whenever used herein with respect to Securities of a particular series, "Event of Default" means any one or more of the following events which has occurred and is continuing:
(1)default in the payment of any installment of interest upon any of the Securities of such series, as and when the same shall become due and payable, and continuance of such default for a period of 30 Business Days;
(2)default in the payment of the principal of (or premium, if any, on) any of the Securities of such series as and when the same shall become due and payable, whether at maturity, upon redemption, by declaration or otherwise, or in any payment required by any sinking or analogous fund established with respect to that series; provided, however, that notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company's failure to pay, if caused solely by a wire transfer malfunction or similar problem outside the Company's control, shall not be deemed an Event of Default; 

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(3)failure on the part of the Company duly to observe or perform any other of the covenants or agreements on the part of the Company with respect to that series contained in such Securities or otherwise established with respect to that series of Securities pursuant to section 2.01 hereof or contained in this Indenture (other than a covenant or agreement which has been expressly included in this Indenture solely for the benefit of one or more series of Securities other than such series) for a period of 60 days after the date on which written notice of such failure, requiring the same to be remedied and stating that such notice is a "Notice of Default" hereunder, shall have been given to the Company by the Trustee, by registered or certified mail, or to the Company and the Trustee by the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the Securities of that series at the time outstanding;
(4)a decree or order by a court having jurisdiction in the premises shall have been entered adjudging the Company a bankrupt or insolvent, or approving as properly filed a petition seeking liquidation or reorganization of the Company under the Federal Bankruptcy Code or any other similar applicable Federal or State law, and such decree or order shall have continued unvacated and unstayed for a period of 90 days; or an involuntary case shall be commenced under such Code in respect of the Company and shall continue undismissed for a period of 90 days or an order for relief in such case shall have been entered; or a decree or order of a court having jurisdiction in the premises shall have been entered for the appointment on the ground of insolvency or bankruptcy of a receiver or custodian or liquidator or trustee or assignee in bankruptcy or insolvency of the Company of its property, or for the winding up or liquidation of its affairs and such decree or order shall have remained in force unvacated and unstayed for a period of 90 days;
(5)the Company shall institute proceedings to be adjudicated a voluntary bankrupt, or shall consent to the filing of a bankruptcy proceeding against it, or shall file a petition or answer or consent seeking liquidation or reorganization under the Federal Bankruptcy Code or any other similar applicable Federal or State law, or shall consent to the filing of any such petition, or shall consent to the appointment on the ground of insolvency or bankruptcy of a receiver or custodian or liquidator or trustee or assignee in bankruptcy or insolvency of it or of its property, or shall make an assignment for the benefit of creditors; or
(6)any other Event of Default provided in the supplemental indenture or Board Resolution under which such  series of Securities is issued or in the form of Security for such series.
(b)    In each and every such case, unless the principal of all the Securities of that series shall have already become due and payable, either the Trustee or the holders of not less than 25% in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of that series then Outstanding hereunder, by notice in writing to the Company (and to the Trustee if given by such Securityholders), may declare the principal of all the Securities of that series to be due and payable immediately, and upon any such declaration the same shall become and shall be immediately due and payable, anything contained in this Indenture or in the Securities of that series or established with respect to that series pursuant to Section 2.01 hereof to the contrary notwithstanding.

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(c)    The provisions of Section 6.01(b), however, are subject to the condition that if, at any time after the principal of the Securities of that series shall have been so declared due and payable, and before any judgment or decree for the payment of the moneys due shall have been obtained or entered as hereinafter provided, the Company shall pay or shall deposit with the Trustee a sum sufficient to pay all matured installments of interest upon all the Securities of that series and the principal of (and premium, if any, on) any and all Securities of that series which shall have become due otherwise than by acceleration (with interest upon such principal and premium, if any, and, to the extent that such payment is enforceable under applicable law, upon overdue installments of interest, at the rate per annum expressed in the Securities of that series to the date of such payment or deposit) and the amount payable to the Trustee under Section 7.06, and any and all Defaults under the Indenture, other than the nonpayment of principal on Securities of that series which shall not have become due by their terms, shall have been remedied or waived as provided in Section 6.06 then and in every such case the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of that series then Outstanding, determined in accordance with Section 8.04, by written notice to the Company and to the Trustee, may rescind and annul such declaration and its consequences; but no such rescission and annulment shall extend to or shall affect any subsequent default, or shall impair any right consequent thereon.
(d)    In case the Trustee shall have proceeded to enforce any right with respect to Securities of that series under this Indenture and such proceedings shall have been discontinued or abandoned because of such rescission or annulment or for any other reason or shall have been determined adversely to the Trustee, then and in every such case the Company and the Trustee shall be restored respectively to their former positions and rights hereunder, and all rights, remedies and powers of the Company and the Trustee shall continue as though no such proceedings had been taken.

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SECTION 6.02.  (a) The Company covenants that (1) in case default shall be made in the payment of any installment of interest on any of the Securities of a series, or any payment required by any sinking or analogous fund established with respect to that series as and when the same shall become due and payable, and such default shall have continued for a period of 30 Business Days, or (2) in case default shall be made in the payment of the principal of (or premium, if any, on) any of the Securities of a series when the same shall have become due and payable, whether upon maturity of the Securities of a series or upon redemption or upon declaration or otherwise -- then, upon demand of the Trustee, the Company will pay to the Trustee, for the benefit of the holders of the Securities of that series, the whole amount that then shall have become due and payable on all Securities of such series for principal (and premium, if any) or interest, or both, as the case may be, with interest upon the overdue principal (and premium, if any) and (to the extent that payment of such interest is enforceable under applicable law) upon overdue installments of interest at the rate per annum expressed in the Securities of that series; and, in addition, thereto, such further amount as shall be sufficient to cover the costs and expenses of collection, and the amount payable to the Trustee under Section 7.06.
(b)    In the case the Company shall fail forthwith to pay such amounts upon such demand, the Trustee, in its own name and as trustee of an express trust, shall be entitled and empowered to institute any action or proceedings at law or in equity for the collection of the sums so due and unpaid, and may prosecute any such action or proceeding to judgment or final decree, and may enforce any such judgment or final decree against the Company or other obligor upon the Securities of that series and collect in the manner provided by law out of the property of the Company or other obligor upon the Securities of that series wherever situated the moneys adjudged or decreed to be payable.
(c)    In case of any receivership, insolvency, liquidation, bankruptcy, reorganization, readjustment, arrangement, composition or other judicial proceedings affecting the Company, any other obligor on such Securities, or the creditors or property of either, the Trustee shall have power to intervene in such proceedings and take any action therein that may be permitted by the court and shall (except as may be otherwise provided by law) be entitled to file such proofs of claim and other papers and documents as may be necessary or advisable in order to have the claims of the Trustee and of the holders of Securities of such series allowed for the entire amount due and payable by the Company or such other obligor under the Indenture at the date of institution of such proceedings and for any additional amount which may become due and payable by the Company or such other obligor after such date, and to collect and receive any moneys or other property payable or deliverable on any such claim, and to distribute the same after the deduction of the amount payable to the Trustee under Section 7.06; and any receiver, assignee or trustee in bankruptcy or reorganization is hereby authorized by each of the holders of Securities of such series to make such payments to the Trustee, and, in the event that the Trustee shall consent to the making of such payments directly to such Securityholders, to pay to the Trustee any amount due it under Section 7.06.
(d)    All rights of action and of asserting claims under this Indenture, or under any of the terms established with respect to Securities of that series, may be enforced by the Trustee without the possession of any such Securities, or the production thereof at any trial or other proceeding relative thereto, and any such suit or proceeding instituted by the Trustee shall be brought in its own name as trustee of an express trust, and any recovery of judgment shall, after provision for payment to the Trustee of any amounts due under Section 7.06, be for the ratable benefit of the holders of the Securities of such series.

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In case of an Event of Default hereunder the Trustee may in its discretion proceed to protect and enforce the rights vested in it by this Indenture by such appropriate judicial proceedings as the Trustee shall deem most effectual to protect and enforce any of such rights, either at law or in equity or in bankruptcy or otherwise, whether for the specific enforcement of any covenant or agreement contained in the Indenture or in aid of the exercise of any power granted in this Indenture, or to enforce any other legal or equitable right vested in the Trustee by this Indenture or by law.
Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to authorize the Trustee to authorize or consent to or accept or adopt on behalf of any Securityholder any plan of reorganization, arrangement, adjustment or composition affecting the Securities of that series or the rights of any holder thereof or to authorize the Trustee to vote in respect of the claim of any Securityholder in any such proceeding.

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SECTION 6.03. Any moneys collected by the Trustee pursuant to Section 6.02 with respect to a particular series of Securities shall be applied in the order following, at the date or dates fixed by the Trustee and, in case of the distribution of such moneys on account of principal (or premium, if any) or interest, upon presentation of the several Securities of that series, and stamping thereon the payment, if only partially paid, and upon surrender thereof if fully paid:
FIRST: To the payment of costs and expenses of collection and of all amounts payable to the Trustee under Section 7.06;
SECOND: To the payment of the amounts then due and unpaid upon Securities of such series for principal (and premium, if any) and interest, in respect of which or for the benefit of which such money has been collected, ratably, without preference or priority of any kind, according to the amounts due and payable on such Securities for principal (and premium, if any) and interest, respectively; and 
THIRD: To the payment of any surplus then remaining to the Company, or its successors and assigns, or to whomsoever may be lawfully entitled thereto.
SECTION 6.04. No holder of any Security of any series shall have any right by virtue or by availing of any provision of this Indenture to institute any suit, action or proceeding in equity or at law upon or under or with respect to this Indenture or for the appointment of a receiver or trustee, or for any other remedy hereunder, unless such holder previously shall have given to the Trustee written notice of an Event of Default and of the continuance thereof with respect to Securities of such series specifying such Event of Default, as hereinbefore provided, and unless also the holders of not less than 25% in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of such series then Outstanding, determined in accordance with Section 8.04, shall have made written request upon the Trustee to institute such action, suit or proceeding in its own name as trustee hereunder and shall have offered to the Trustee such reasonable indemnity as it may require against the costs, expenses and liabilities to be incurred therein or thereby, and the Trustee for 60 days after its receipt of such notice, request and offer of indemnity, shall have failed to institute any such action, suit or proceeding and the Trustee shall not have received any direction inconsistent with such written notice during such 60-day period by the holders of not less than a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of such series then Outstanding; it being understood and  intended, and being expressly covenanted by the taker and holder of every Security of such series with every other such taker  and holder and the Trustee, that  no one or more holders of Securities of such series shall have any right in any manner whatsoever by virtue or by availing of any provision of this Indenture to affect, disturb or prejudice the rights of the holders of any other of such Securities, or to obtain or seek to obtain priority over or preference to any other such holder, or to enforce any right under this Indenture, except in the manner herein provided and for the equal, ratable and common benefit of all holders of Securities of such series. For the protection and enforcement of the provisions of this Section, each and every Securityholder and the Trustee shall be entitled to such relief as can be given either at law or in equity.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Indenture, however, the right of any holder of any Security to receive payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) and interest on such Security, as therein provided, on or after the respective due dates expressed in such Security (or in the case of redemption, on the redemption date), or to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment on or after such respective dates or redemption date, shall not be impaired or affected without the consent of such holder.

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SECTION 6.05. (a) All powers and remedies given by this Article to the Trustee or to the Securityholders shall, to the extent permitted by law, be deemed cumulative and not exclusive of any others thereof or of any other powers and remedies available to the Trustee or the holders of the Securities, by judicial proceedings or otherwise, to enforce the performance or observance of the covenants and agreements contained in this Indenture or otherwise established with respect to such Securities.
(b)     No delay or omission of the Trustee or of any holder of any of the Securities to exercise any right or power accruing upon any Event of Default occurring and continuing as aforesaid shall impair any such right or power, or shall be construed to be a waiver of any such default or an acquiescence therein; and, subject to the provisions of Section 6.04, every power and remedy given by this Article or by law to the Trustee or to the Securityholders may be exercised from time to time, and as often as shall be deemed expedient, by the Trustee or by the Securityholders.
SECTION 6.06  The holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of any series at the time Outstanding, determined in accordance with Section 8.04, shall have the right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the Trustee, or exercising any trust or power conferred on the Trustee with respect to such series; provided, however, that such direction shall not be in conflict with any rule of law or with this Indenture, as determined by the Trustee, or unduly prejudicial to the rights of holders of Securities of any other series at the time Outstanding, determined in accordance with Section 8.04, not parties thereto. Subject to the provisions of Section 7.01, the Trustee shall have the right to decline to follow any such direction if the Trustee in good faith shall, by a responsible officer or officers of the Trustee, determine that the proceeding so directed would involve the Trustee in personal liability. The holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of any series at the time Outstanding,  determined in accordance with Section 8.04, may on behalf of the holders of all of the Securities of that series waive any past default in the performance of any of the covenants contained herein or established pursuant to Section 2.01 with respect to such series and its consequences, except a default in the payment of the principal of, or premium, if any, or interest on,  any of the Securities of that series as and when the same shall become due by the terms of such Securities or a call for redemption of Securities of that series. Upon any such waiver, the default covered thereby shall be deemed to be cured and to cease to exist for all purposes of this Indenture and the Company, the Trustee and the holders of the Securities of that series shall be restored to their former positions and rights hereunder, respectively; but no such waiver shall extend to any subsequent or other default or impair any right consequent thereon.

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SECTION 6.07. The Trustee shall, within 90 days after the occurrence of a default with respect to a particular series, transmit by mail, first class postage prepaid, to the holders of Securities of that series, as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register, notice of all defaults with respect to that series known to the Trustee, unless such defaults shall have been cured before the giving of such notice (the term "defaults" for the purposes of this Section being hereby defined to be the events specified in subsections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) of Section 6.01(a), not including any periods of grace provided for therein and irrespective of the giving of notice provided for by subsection (3) of Section 6.01(a)); provided, that, except in the case of default in the payment of the principal of (or premium, if any) or interest on any of the Securities of that series or in the payment of any sinking fund installment established with respect to that series, the Trustee shall be protected in withholding such notice if and so long as the board of directors, the executive committee, or a trust committee of directors and/or responsible officers, of the Trustee in good faith determine that the withholding of such notice is in the interests of the Securityholders of Securities of that series; provided further, that in the case of any default of the character specified in Section 6.01(a)(3) with respect to Securities of such series no such notice to the holders of the Securities of that series shall be given until at least 30 days after the occurrence thereof.
The Trustee shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any default, except (i) a default under subsections (a)(1) or (a)(2) of Section 6.01 as long as the Trustee is acting as paying agent for such series of Securities or (ii) any default as to which the Trustee shall have received written notice or a Responsible Officer charged with the administration of this Indenture shall have obtained actual knowledge.

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SECTION 6.08.  All parties to this Indenture agree, and each holder of any Securities by his or her acceptance thereof shall be deemed to have agreed, that any court may in its discretion require, in any suit for the enforcement of any right or remedy under this Indenture, or in any suit against the Trustee for any action taken or omitted by it as Trustee, the filing by any party litigant in such suit of an undertaking to pay the costs of such suit, and that such court may in its discretion assess reasonable costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, against any party litigant in such suit, having due regard to the merits and good faith of the claims or defenses made by such party litigant; but the provisions of this Section shall not apply to any suit instituted by the Trustee, to any suit instituted by any Securityholder, or group of Securityholders, holding more than 10% in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities of any series, or to any suit instituted by any  Securityholder for the enforcement of the payment of the principal of (or premium, if any) or interest on any Security of such series, on or after the respective due dates expressed in such Security or established pursuant to this Indenture.

ARTICLE VII.

CONCERNING THE TRUSTEE

SECTION 7.01. (a) The Trustee, prior to the occurrence of an Event of Default with respect to Securities of a series and after the curing of all Events of Default with respect to Securities of that series which may have occurred, shall undertake to perform with respect to Securities of such series such duties and only such duties as are specifically set forth in this Indenture, and no implied covenants shall be read into this Indenture against the Trustee. In case an Event of Default with respect to Securities of a series has occurred (which has not been cured or waived), the Trustee shall exercise with respect to Securities of that series such of the rights and powers vested in it by this Indenture, and use the same degree of care and skill in their exercise, as a prudent person would exercise or use under the circumstances in the conduct of such person's own affairs.
(b)     No provision of this Indenture shall be construed to relieve the Trustee from liability for its own negligent action, its own negligent failure to act, or its own willful misconduct, except that
(1)prior to the occurrence of an Event of Default with respect to Securities of a series and after the curing or waiving of all such Events of Default with respect to that series which may have occurred:
(i)the duties and obligations of the Trustee shall with respect to Securities of such series be determined solely by the express provisions of this Indenture, and the Trustee shall not be liable with respect to Securities of such series except for the performance of such duties and obligations as are specifically set forth in this Indenture, and no implied covenants or obligations shall be read into this Indenture against that Trustee; and
(ii)in the absence of bad faith on the part of the
Trustee, the Trustee may with respect to Securities of such series conclusively rely, as to the truth of the statements and the correctness of the opinions expressed therein, upon any 

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certificates or opinions furnished to the Trustee and conforming to the requirements of this Indenture; but in the case of any such certificates or opinions which by any provision hereof are specifically required to be furnished to the Trustee, the Trustee shall be under a duty to examine the same to determine whether or not they conform to the requirements of this Indenture;
(2)the Trustee shall not be liable for any error of judgment made in good faith by a Responsible Officer or responsible officers of the Trustee, unless it shall be proved that the Trustee was negligent in ascertaining the pertinent facts;
(3)the Trustee shall not be liable with respect to any action taken or omitted to be taken by it in good faith in accordance with the direction of the holders of not less than a majority in principal amount of the Securities of any series at the time Outstanding relating to the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the- Trustee, or exercising any trust or power conferred upon the Trustee under this Indenture with respect to the Securities of that series; and
(4)None of the provisions contained in this Indenture shall require the Trustee to expend or risk its own funds or otherwise incur personal financial liability in the performance of any of its duties or in  the exercise of any of its rights or powers, if there is reasonable ground for believing that the repayment of such funds or liability is not reasonably assured to it under the terms of this Indenture or adequate indemnity against such risk is not reasonably assured to it.

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SECTION 7.02.  Except as otherwise provided in Section 7.01:
(a)The Trustee may rely and shall be protected in acting or refraining from acting upon any resolution, certificate, statement, instrument, opinion, report, notice, request, consent, order, approval, bond, security or other paper or document believed by it to be genuine and to have been signed or presented by the proper party or parties; 
(b)Any request, direction, order or demand of the Company mentioned herein shall be sufficiently evidenced by a Board Resolution or an instrument signed in the name of the Company by the President or the Chief Financial Officer and by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary or the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer (unless other evidence in respect thereof is specifically prescribed herein);
(c)The Trustee may consult with counsel and the written advice of such counsel or any Opinion of Counsel shall be full and complete authorization and protection in respect of any action taken or suffered or omitted hereunder in good faith and in reliance thereon;
(d)The Trustee shall be under no obligation to exercise any of the rights or powers vested in it by this Indenture at the request, order or direction of any of the Securityholders, pursuant to the provisions of this Indenture, unless such Securityholders shall have offered to the Trustee reasonable security or indemnity against the costs, expenses and liabilities which may be incurred herein or thereby; nothing herein contained shall, however, relieve the Trustee of the obligation, upon the occurrence of an Event of Default with respect to a series of the Securities (which has not been cured or waived) to exercise with respect to Securities of that series such of the rights and powers vested in it by this Indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in their exercise, as a prudent man would exercise or use under the circumstances in the conduct of his own affairs;
(e)The Trustee shall not be liable for any action taken or omitted to be taken by it in good faith and believed by it to be authorized or within the discretion or rights or powers conferred upon it by this Indenture;
(f)The Trustee shall not be bound to make any investigation into the facts or matters stated in any resolution, certificate, statement, instrument, opinion, report, notice, request, consent, order, approval, bond, security, or other papers or documents, unless requested in writing so to do by the holders of not less than a majority in principal amount of the Outstanding Securities of the particular series affected thereby (determined as provided in Section 8.04); provided, however, that if the payment within a reasonable time to the Trustee of the costs, expenses or liabilities likely to be incurred by it in the making of such investigation is, in the opinion of the Trustee, not reasonably assured to the Trustee by the security afforded to it by the terms of this Indenture, the Trustee may require reasonable indemnity against such costs, expenses or liabilities as a condition to so proceeding. The reasonable expense of every such examination shall be paid by the Company or, if paid by the Trustee, shall be repaid by the Company upon demand; and
(g)The Trustee may execute any of the trusts or powers hereunder or perform any duties hereunder either directly or by or through agents or attorneys and the Trustee shall not be responsible for any misconduct or negligence on the part of any agent or attorney appointed with due care by it hereunder.

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SECTION 7.03.
(a)The recitals contained herein and in the Securities (other than the Certificate of Authentication on the Securities) shall be taken as the statements of the Company, and the Trustee assumes no responsibility for the correctness of the same.
(b)The Trustee makes no representations as to the validity or sufficiency of this Indenture or of the Securities.
(c)The Trustee shall not be accountable for the use by the Company of any of the Securities or the use or application by the Company of the proceeds of such Securities, or for the use or application of any moneys paid over by the Trustee in accordance with any provision of this Indenture or established pursuant to Section 2.01, or for the use or application of any moneys received by any paying agent other than the Trustee.
SECTION 7.04. The Trustee or any paying agent or Security Registrar, in its individual or any other capacity, may become the owner or pledgee of Securities with the same rights it would have if it were not Trustee, paying agent or Security Registrar.
SECTION 7.05. Subject to the provisions of Section 11.05, all moneys received by the Trustee shall, until used or applied as herein provided, be held in trust for the purposes for which they were received, but need not be segregated from other funds except to the extent required by law. The Trustee shall be under no liability for interest on any moneys received by it hereunder except such as it may agree with the Company to pay thereon.    

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SECTION 7.06.
(a)The Company covenants and agrees to pay to the Trustee from time to time, and the Trustee shall be entitled to, reasonable compensation (which shall not be limited by any provision of law in regard to the compensation of a trustee of an express trust) for all services rendered by it in the execution of the trusts hereby created and in the exercise and performance of any of the powers and duties hereunder of the Trustee, and the Company will pay or reimburse the Trustee upon its request for all reasonable expenses, disbursements and advances incurred or made by the Trustee in accordance with any of the provisions of this Indenture (including the reasonable compensation and the expenses and disbursements of its counsel (including in-house counsel) and of all persons not regularly in its employ) except any such expense, disbursement or advance as may arise from its negligence or bad faith. The Company also covenants to indemnify the Trustee (and its officers, agents, directors and employees) for, and to hold it harmless against, any loss, liability or expense incurred without negligence or bad faith on the part of the Trustee and arising out of or in connection with the acceptance or administration of this trust, including the costs and expenses of defending itself against any claim of liability in the premises.
(b)The obligations of the Company under this Section to compensate and indemnify the Trustee and to pay or reimburse the Trustee for expenses, disbursements and advances shall constitute additional indebtedness hereunder. Such additional indebtedness shall be secured by a lien prior to that of the Securities upon all property and funds held or collected by the Trustee as such, except funds held in trust for the benefit of the holders of particular Securities.
SECTION 7.07.  Except as otherwise provided in Section 7.01, whenever in the administration of the provisions of this Indenture the Trustee shall deem it necessary or desirable that a matter be proved or established prior to taking or suffering or omitting to take any action hereunder, such matter (unless other evidence in respect thereof be herein specifically prescribed) may, in the absence of negligence or bad faith on the part of the Trustee,  be deemed to be conclusively proved and established by an Officers’ Certificate delivered to the Trustee and such certificate, in the absence of negligence or bad faith on the part of the Trustee, shall be full warrant to the Trustee for any action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by it under the provisions of this Indenture upon the faith thereof.
SECTION 7.08.  The Trustee shall be disqualified only where such disqualification is required by Section 310(b) of the Trust Indenture Act. 

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SECTION 7.09.  There shall at all times be a Trustee with respect to the Securities issued hereunder which shall at all times be a corporation organized and doing business under the laws of the United States of America or any State or Territory thereof or of the District of Columbia, or a corporation or other person permitted to act as trustee by the Securities and Exchange Commission, authorized under such laws to exercise corporate trust powers, having a combined capital and surplus of at least $10 million, and subject to supervision or examination by Federal, State, Territorial, or District of Columbia authority. If such corporation publishes reports of condition at least annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of the aforesaid supervising or examining authority, then for the purposes of this Section, the combined capital and surplus of such corporation shall be deemed to be its combined capital and surplus as set forth in its most recent report of condition so published. The Company may not, nor may any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Company, serve as Trustee. In case at any time the Trustee shall cease to be eligible in accordance with the provisions of this Section, the Trustee shall resign immediately in the manner and with the effect specified in Section 7.10.
SECTION 7.10.  (a) The Trustee or any successor hereafter appointed, may at any time resign with respect to the Securities of one or more series by giving written notice thereof to the Company and by transmitting notice of resignation by mail, first class postage prepaid, to the Securityholders of such series, as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register. Upon receiving such notice of resignation, the Company shall promptly appoint a successor trustee with respect to Securities of such series by written instrument, in duplicate, executed by order of the Board of Directors, one copy of which instrument shall be delivered to the resigning Trustee and one copy to the successor trustee. If no successor trustee shall have been so appointed and have accepted appointment within 30 days after the mailing of such notice of resignation, the resigning Trustee may petition any court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor trustee with respect to Securities of such series, or any Securityholder of that series who has been a bona fide holder of a Security or Securities for at least six months may, subject to the provisions of Section 6.08, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, petition any such court for the appointment of a successor trustee. Such court may thereupon after such notice, if any, as it may deem proper and prescribe, appoint a successor trustee.
(b)    In case at any time any of the following shall occur-
the Trustee shall fail to comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of Section 310 of the Trust Indenture Act after written request therefor by the Company or by any Securityholder who has been a bona fide holder of a Security or Securities for at least six months, or 
the Trustee shall cease to be eligible in accordance with the provisions of Section 7.09 and shall fail to resign after written request therefor by the Company or by any such Securityholder of Securities, or

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the Trustee shall become incapable of acting, or shall be adjudged a bankrupt or insolvent, or a receiver of the Trustee or of its property shall be appointed, or any public officer shall take charge or control of the Trustee or of its property or affairs for the purpose of rehabilitation, conservation or liquidation, then, in any such case, the Company may remove the Trustee with respect to all Securities and appoint a successor trustee by written instrument, in duplicate, executed by order of the Board of Directors, one copy of which instrument shall be delivered to the Trustee so removed and one copy to the successor trustee, or, subject to the provisions of Section 7.08, unless the Trustee's duty to resign is stayed as provided herein, any Securityholder who has been a bona fide holder of a Security or Securities for at least six months may, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, petition any court of competent jurisdiction for the removal of the Trustee and the appointment of a successor trustee. Such court may thereupon after such notice, if any, as it may deem proper and prescribe, remove the Trustee and appoint a successor trustee.
(c)The holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of any series at the time Outstanding may at any time remove the Trustee with respect to such series and appoint a successor trustee.
(d)Any resignation or removal of the Trustee and appointment of a successor trustee with respect to the Securities of a series pursuant to any of the provisions of this Section shall become effective upon acceptance of appointment by the successor trustee as provided in Section 7.11.
(e)Any successor trustee appointed pursuant to this Section may be appointed with respect to the Securities of one or more series or all of such series, and at any time there shall be only one Trustee with respect to the Securities of any particular series.
SECTION 7.11.
(a)In case of the appointment hereunder of a successor trustee with respect to all Securities, every such successor trustee so appointed shall execute, acknowledge and deliver to the Company and to the retiring Trustee an instrument accepting such appointment, and thereupon the resignation or removal of the retiring Trustee shall become effective and such successor trustee, without any further act, deed or conveyance, shall become vested with all the rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee; but, on the request of the Company or the successor trustee, such retiring Trustee shall, upon payment of its charges, execute and deliver an instrument transferring to such successor trustee all the rights, powers, and trusts of the retiring Trustee and shall duly assign, transfer and deliver to such successor trustee all property and money held by such retiring Trustee hereunder.

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(b)In case of the appointment hereunder of a successor trustee with respect to the Securities of one or more (but not all) series, the Company, the retiring Trustee and each successor trustee with respect to the Securities of one or more series shall execute and deliver an indenture supplemental hereto wherein each successor trustee shall accept such appointment and which (1) shall contain such provisions as shall be necessary or desirable to transfer and confirm to, and to vest in, each successor trustee all the rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee with respect to the Securities of that or those series to which the appointment of such successor trustee relates, (2) shall contain such provisions as shall be deemed necessary or desirable to confirm that all the rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee with respect to the Securities of that or those series as to which the retiring Trustee is not retiring shall continue to be vested in the retiring Trustee, and (3) shall add to or change any of the provisions of this Indenture as shall be necessary to provide for or facilitate the administration of the trusts hereunder by more than one Trustee, it being understood that nothing herein or in such supplemental indenture shall constitute such Trustees co-trustees of the same trust, that each such Trustee shall be trustee of a trust or trusts hereunder separate and apart from any trust or trusts hereunder administered by any other such Trustee and that no Trustee shall be responsible for any act or failure to act on the part of any other Trustee hereunder; and upon the execution and delivery of such supplemental indenture the resignation or removal of the retiring Trustee shall become effective to the extent provided therein, such retiring Trustee shall with respect to the Securities of that or those series to which the appointment of such successor trustee relates have no further responsibility for the exercise of rights and powers or for the performance of the duties and obligations vested in the Trustee under this Indenture, and each such successor trustee, without any further act, deed or conveyance, shall become vested with all the rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee with respect to the Securities of that or those series to which the appointment of such successor trustee relates; but, on request of the Company or any successor trustee, such retiring Trustee shall duly assign, transfer and deliver to such successor trustee, to the extent contemplated by such supplemental indenture, the property and money held by such retiring Trustee hereunder with respect to the Securities of that or those series to which the appointment of such successor trustee relates.
(c)Upon request of any such successor trustee, the Company shall execute any and all instruments for more fully and certainly vesting in and confirming to such successor trustee all such rights, powers and trusts referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section, as the case may be.
(d)No successor trustee shall accept its appointment unless at the time of such acceptance such successor trustee shall be qualified and eligible under this Article.
(e)Upon acceptance of appointment by a successor trustee as provided in this Section, the Company shall transmit notice of the succession of such trustee hereunder by mail, first class postage prepaid, to the Securityholders, as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register. If the Company fails to transmit such notice within ten days after acceptance of appointment by the successor trustee, the successor trustee shall cause such notice to be transmitted at the expense of the Company.

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SECTION 7.12.  Any corporation into which the Trustee may be merged or converted or with which it may be consolidated, or any corporation resulting from any merger, conversion or consolidation to which the Trustee shall be a party, or any corporation succeeding to the corporate trust business of the Trustee, shall be the successor of the Trustee hereunder, provided such corporation shall be qualified under the provisions of Section 7.08 and eligible under the provisions of Section 7.09, without the execution or filing of any paper or any further act on the part of any of the parties hereto, anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding. In case any Securities shall have been authenticated, but not delivered, by the Trustee then in office, any successor by merger, conversion or consolidation to such authenticating Trustee may adopt such authentication and deliver the Securities so authenticated with the- same effect as if such successor Trustee had itself authenticated such securities.
SECTION 7.13.  (a) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section, if the Trustee shall be or shall become a creditor, directly or indirectly, secured or unsecured, of the company within three months prior to a default, as defined in subsection (c) of this Section, or subsequent to such a default, then, unless and until such default shall be cured, the Trustee shall set apart and hold in a special account for the benefit of the Trustee individually, the holders of the Securities and the holders of other indenture securities (as defined in subsection (c) of this Section)
(1)an amount equal to any and all reductions in the amount due and owing upon any claim as such creditor in respect of principal or interest, effected after the beginning of such three months’ period and valid as against the Company and its other creditors, except any such reduction resulting from the receipt or disposition of any property described in paragraph (2) of this subsection, or from the exercise of any right of set-off which the Trustee could have exercised if a petition in bankruptcy had been filed by or against the Company upon the date of such default; and
(2)all property received by the Trustee in respect of any claim as such creditor, either as security therefor, or in satisfaction or composition thereof, or otherwise, after the beginning of such three months’ period, or an amount equal to the proceeds of any such property, if disposed of, subject, however, to the rights, if any, of the Company and its other creditors in such property or such proceeds 
Nothing herein contained, however, shall affect the right of the Trustee
(A)to retain for its own account (i) payments made on account of any such claim by any person (other than the Company) who is liable thereon, and (ii) the proceeds of the bona fide sale of any such claim by the Trustee to a third person, and (iii) distributions made in cash, securities, or other property in respect of claims filed against the Company in bankruptcy or receivership or in a case for reorganization pursuant to the Federal Bankruptcy Code or applicable State law;
(B)to realize, for its own account, upon any property held by it as security for any such claim, if such property was so held prior to the beginning of such three months’ period;

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(C)to realize, for its own account, but only to the extent of the claim hereinafter mentioned, upon any property held by it as security for any such claim, if such claim was created after the beginning of such three months' period and such property was received as  security therefor simultaneously with the creation thereof, and if the Trustee shall sustain the burden of proving that at the time such property was so received the Trustee had no reasonable cause to believe that a default, as defined in subsection (c) of this Section, would occur within three months; or
(D)to receive payment on any claim referred to in paragraph (B) or (C), against the release of any property held  as security for such claim as provided in such paragraph (B) or (C), as the case may be, to the extent of the fair value of such property.
For the purposes of paragraphs (B), (C) and (D), property substituted after the beginning of such three months’ period for property held as security at the time of such substitution shall, to the extent of the fair value of the property released, have the same status as the property released, and, to the extent that any claim referred to in any of such paragraphs is created in renewal of or in substitution for or for the purpose of repaying or refunding any pre-existing claim of the Trustee as such creditor, such claim shall have the same status as such pre-existing claim.
If the Trustee shall be required to account, the funds and property held in such special account and the proceeds thereof shall be apportioned between the Trustee, the Securityholders and the holders of other indenture securities in such manner that the Trustee, the Securityholders and the holders of other indenture securities realize, as a result of payments from such special account and payments of dividends on claims filed against the Company in bankruptcy or receivership or in a case for reorganization pursuant to the Federal Bankruptcy Code or applicable State law, the same percentage of their respective claims, figured before crediting to the claim of the Trustee anything on account of the receipt by it from the Company of the funds and property in such special account and before crediting to the respective claims of the Trustee, the Securityholders and the holders of other indenture securities dividends on claims filed against the Company in bankruptcy or receivership or in a case for reorganization pursuant to the Federal Bankruptcy Code or applicable State law, but after crediting thereon receipts on account of the indebtedness represented by their respective claims from all sources other than from such dividends and from the funds and property so held in such special account. As used in this paragraph, with respect to any claim, the term "dividends" shall include any distribution with respect to such claim in bankruptcy or receivership or in a case for reorganization pursuant to the Federal Bankruptcy Code or applicable State law, whether such distribution is made in cash, securities, or other property, but shall not include any such distribution with respect to the secured portion, if any, of such claim. The court in which such bankruptcy, receivership or case for reorganization is pending shall have jurisdiction (i) to apportion between the Trustee, the Securityholders and the holders of other indenture securities, in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph, the funds and property held in such special account and the proceeds thereof, or (ii) in lieu of such apportionment, in whole or in part, to give to the provisions of this paragraph due consideration in determining the fairness of the distributions to be made to the Trustee, the Securityholders and the holders of other indenture securities with respect to their respective claims, in which event it shall not be necessary to liquidate or to appraise the value of any  securities or other property held in such special account or as security for any such claim, or to make a specific allocation of such distributions as between the secured and unsecured portions of such claims, or otherwise to apply the provisions of this paragraph as a mathematical formula.

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Any Trustee who has resigned or been removed after the beginning of such three months' period shall be subject to the provisions of this subsection (a) as though such resignation or removal had not occurred. If any Trustee has resigned or been removed prior to the beginning of such three months' period, it shall be subject to the provisions of this subsection (a) if and only if the following conditions exist:
(i)the receipt of property or reduction of claim which would have given rise to the obligation to account, if such Trustee had continued as trustee, occurred after the beginning of such three months' period; and 
(ii)such receipt of property or reduction of claim occurred within three months after such resignation or removal.
(iii)There shall be excluded from the operation of  subsection (a) of this Section a creditor relationship arising from 
(1)the ownership or acquisition of securities issued under any indenture, or any security or securities having a maturity of one year or more at the time of acquisition by the Trustee;
(2)advances authorized by a receivership or bankruptcy court of competent jurisdiction, or by this Indenture, for the purpose of preserving any property other than cash which shall at any time be subject to the lien, if any, of this Indenture or of discharging tax liens or other prior liens or  encumbrances thereon, if notice of such advance and of the circumstances surrounding the making thereof is given to the Securityholders at the time and in the manner provided in this Indenture;
(3)disbursements made in the ordinary course of business in the capacity of trustee under an indenture, transfer agent, registrar, custodian, paying agent, subscription agent, fiscal agent or depositary, or other similar capacity;
(4)an  indebtedness created as a result of services rendered or premises rented; or an indebtedness created as a result of goods or securities sold in a cash transaction as defined in subsection (c) of this Section;
(5)the ownership of stock or of other securities of a Company organized under the provisions of Section 25(a) of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended, which is directly or indirectly a creditor of the Company; or
(6)the acquisition, ownership, acceptance or negotiation of any drafts, bills of exchange, acceptances or obligations which fall within the classification of self-liquidating paper as defined in subsection (c) of this Section. 
(c)    As used in this Section:
(1)The term "default" shall mean any failure to make payment in full of the principal of (or premium, if any) or interest upon any of the Securities or upon the other indenture securities when and as such principal (or premium, if any) or interest becomes due and payable.

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(2)The term "other indenture securities" shall mean securities upon which the Company is an obligor (as defined in the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended) outstanding under any other indenture (A) under which the Trustee is also trustee, (B) which contains provisions substantially similar to the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, and (C) under which a default exists at the time of the apportionment of the funds and property held in said special account.
(3)The term "cash transaction" shall mean any transaction in which full payment for goods or securities sold is made within seven days after delivery of the goods or securities in currency or in checks or other orders drawn upon banks or bankers and payable upon demand.
(4)The term "self-liquidating paper" shall mean any draft, bill of exchange, acceptance or obligation which is made, drawn, negotiated or incurred by the Company for the purpose of financing the purchase, processing, manufacture, shipment, storage or sale of goods, wares or merchandise and which is secured by documents evidencing title to, possession of, or a lien upon, the goods, wares or merchandise or the receivables or proceeds arising from the sale of the goods, wares or merchandise previously constituting the security, provided the security is received by the Trustee simultaneously with the creation of the creditor relationship with the Company arising from the making, drawing, negotiating or incurring of the draft, bill of exchange, acceptance or obligation.
(5)The term "Company" shall mean any obligor upon any of the Securities.

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ARTICLE VIII.

CONCERNING THE SECURITYHOLDERS

SECTION 8.01.  Whenever in this Indenture it is provided that the holders of a majority or specified percentage in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of a particular series may take any action (including the making of any demand or request, the giving of any notice, consent or waiver or the taking of any other action), the fact that at the time of taking any such action the holders of such majority or specified percentage of that series have joined therein may be evidenced by any instrument or any number of instruments of similar tenor executed by such holders of Securities of that series in person or by agent or proxy appointed in writing.
If the Company shall solicit from the Securityholders of any series any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action, the Company may, at its option, as evidenced by an Officers’ Certificate, fix in advance a record date for such series for the determination of Securityholders entitled to give such request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action, but the Company shall have no obligation to do so. If such a record date is fixed, such request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action may be given before or after the record date, but only the Securityholders of record at the close of business on the record date shall be deemed to be Securityholders for the purposes of determining whether Securityholders of the requisite proportion of Outstanding Securities of that series have authorized or agreed or consented to such request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action, and for that purpose the Outstanding Securities of that series shall be computed as of the record date. Any such authorization, agreement or consent by such Securityholders on the record date shall be deemed effective upon receipt.

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SECTION 8.02.  Subject to the provisions of Section 7.01, proof of the execution of any instrument by a Securityholder (such proof will not require notarization) or his agent or proxy and proof of the holding by any person of any of the Securities shall be sufficient if made in the following manner:
(a)The fact and date of the execution by any such person of any instrument may be proved in any reasonable manner acceptable to the Trustee.
(b)The ownership of Securities shall be proved by the Security Registrar of such Securities or by a certificate of the Security Registrar thereof.
(c)The Trustee may require such additional proof of any matter referred to in this Section as it shall deem necessary.
SECTION 8.03.  Prior to the due presentment for registration of transfer of any Security, the Company, the Trustee, any paying agent and any Security Registrar may deem and treat the person in whose name such Security shall be registered upon the books of the Company as the absolute owner of such Security (whether or not such Security shall be overdue and notwithstanding any notice of ownership or writing thereon made by anyone other than the Security Registrar) for the purpose of receiving payment of or on account of the principal of, premium, if any, and (subject to Section 2.03) interest on such Security and for all other purposes; and neither the Company nor the Trustee nor any paying agent nor any Security Registrar shall be affected by any notice to the contrary.

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SECTION 8.04.  In determining whether the holders of the requisite aggregate principal amount of Securities of a particular series have concurred in any direction, consent or waiver under this Indenture, Securities of that series which are owned by the Company or any other obligor on the Securities of that series or by any Affiliate of the Company or any other obligor on the Securities of that series shall be disregarded and deemed not to be Outstanding for the purpose of any such determination, except that for the purpose of determining whether the Trustee shall be protected in relying on any such direction, consent or waiver only Securities of such series which the Trustee actually knows are so owned shall be so disregarded. Securities so owned which have been pledged in good faith may be regarded as Outstanding for the purposes of this Section, if the pledgee shall establish to the satisfaction of the Trustee the pledgee's right so to act with respect to such Securities and that the pledgee is not a person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by or under direct or indirect common control with the Company or any such other obligor. In case of a dispute as to such right, any decision by the Trustee taken upon the advice of counsel shall be full protection to the Trustee.
SECTION 8.05.  At any time prior to (but not after) the evidencing to the Trustee, as provided in Section 8.01, of the taking of any action by the holders of the majority or percentage in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of a particular series specified in this Indenture in connection with such action, any holder of a Security of that series which is shown by the evidence to be included in the Securities the holders of which have consented to such action may, by filing written notice with the Trustee, and upon proof of holding as provided in Section 8.02, revoke such action so far as concerns such Security. Except as aforesaid any such action taken by the holder of any Security shall be conclusive and binding upon such holder and upon all future holders and owners of such Security, and of any Security issued in exchange therefor, on registration of transfer thereof or in place thereof, irrespective of whether or not any notation in regard thereto is made upon such Security.  Any action taken by the holders of a majority or percentage in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of a particular series specified in this Indenture in connection with such action shall be conclusively binding upon the Company, the Trustee and the holders of all the Securities of that series.

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ARTICLE IX.
SUPPLEMENTAL INDENTURES
SECTION 9.01.  In addition to any supplemental indenture otherwise authorized by this Indenture, the Company, when authorized by a Board Resolution, and the Trustee may from time to time and at any time enter into an indenture or indentures supplemental hereto (which shall conform to the provisions of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 as then in effect), without the consent of the Securityholders, for one or more of the following purposes;
(a)to evidence the succession of another corporation to the Company, and the assumption by any such successor of the covenants of the Company contained herein or otherwise established with respect to the Securities; or
(b)to add to the covenants of the Company such further covenants, restrictions, conditions or provisions for the protection of the holders of the Securities of all or any series as the Board of Directors and the Trustee shall consider to be for the protection of the holders of Securities of all or any series, and to make the occurrence, or the occurrence and continuance, of a default in any of such additional covenants, restrictions, conditions or provisions a default or an Event of Default with respect to such series permitting the enforcement of all or any of the several remedies provided in this Indenture as herein set forth; provided, however, that in respect of any such additional covenant, restriction, condition or provision such supplemental indenture may provide for a particular period of grace after default (which period may be shorter or longer than that allowed in the case of other defaults) or may provide for an immediate enforcement upon such default or may limit the remedies available to the Trustee upon such default or may limit the right of the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of such series to waive such default; or
(c)to cure any ambiguity or to correct or supplement any provision contained herein or in any supplemental indenture which may be defective or inconsistent with any other provision contained herein or in any supplemental indenture, or to make such other provisions in regard to matters or questions arising under this indenture as shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Indenture and shall not adversely affect the interests of the holders of the Securities of any series; or
(d)to change or eliminate any of the provisions of this Indenture, provided that any such change or elimination shall become effective only when there is no Security Outstanding of any series created prior to the execution of such supplemental indenture which is entitled to the benefit of such provision.
The Trustee is hereby authorized to join with the Company in the execution of any such supplemental indenture, and to make any further appropriate agreements and stipulations which may be therein contained, but the Trustee shall not be obligated to enter into any such supplemental indenture which affects the Trustee's own rights, duties or immunities under this Indenture or otherwise.
Any supplemental indenture authorized by the provisions of this Section may be executed by the Company and the Trustee without the consent of the holders of any of the Securities at the time Outstanding, notwithstanding any of the provisions of Section 9.02.

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SECTION 9.02.  With the consent (evidenced as provided in Section 8.01) of the holders of not less than a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Securities of each series affected by such supplemental indenture or indentures at the time Outstanding, the Company, when authorized by a Board Resolution, and the Trustee may from time to time and at any time enter into an indenture or indentures supplemental hereto (which shall conform to the provisions of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 as then in effect) for the purpose of adding any provisions to or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the provisions of this Indenture or of any supplemental indenture or of modifying in any manner the rights of the holders of the Securities of such series under this Indenture; provided, however, that no such supplemental indenture shall (i) extend the fixed maturity of any Securities of any series, or reduce the principal amount thereof, or reduce the rate or extend the time of payment of interest thereon, or reduce any premium payable upon the redemption thereof, without the consent of the holder of each Security so affected, or (ii) reduce the aforesaid percentage of Securities, the holders of which are required to consent to any such supplemental indenture, without the consent of the holders of each Security then Outstanding and affected thereby.
Upon the request of the Company, accompanied by a Board Resolution authorizing the execution of any such supplemental indenture, and upon the filing with the Trustee of evidence of the consent of Securityholders required to consent thereto as aforesaid, the Trustee shall join with the Company in the execution of such supplemental indenture unless such supplemental indenture affects the Trustee's own rights, duties or immunities under this Indenture or otherwise, in which case the Trustee may in its discretion but shall not be obligated to enter into such supplemental indenture.
It shall not be necessary for the consent of the Securityholders of any series affected thereby under this Section to approve the particular form of any proposed supplemental indenture, but it shall be sufficient if such consent shall approve the substance thereof.
Promptly after the execution by the Company and the Trustee of any supplemental indenture pursuant to the provisions of this Section, the Trustee shall transmit by mail, first class postage prepaid, a notice, setting forth in general terms the substance of such supplemental indenture, to the Securityholders of all series affected thereby as their names and addresses appear upon the Security Register. Any failure of the Trustee to mail such notice, or any defect therein, shall not, however, in any way impair or affect the validity of any such supplemental indenture.

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SECTION 9.03.  Upon the execution of any supplemental indenture pursuant to the provisions of this Article or of Section 10.01, this Indenture shall, with respect to such series, be and be deemed to be modified and amended in accordance therewith and the respective rights, limitations of rights, obligations, duties and immunities under this Indenture of the Trustee, the Company and the holders of Securities of the series affected thereby shall thereafter be determined, exercised and enforced hereunder subject in all respects to such modifications and amendments, and all the terms and conditions of any such supplemental indenture shall be and be deemed to be part of the terms and conditions of this Indenture for any and all purposes.
SECTION 9.04.  Securities of any series, affected by a supplemental indenture, authenticated and delivered after the execution of such supplemental indenture pursuant to the provisions of this Article or of Section 10.01, may bear a notation in form approved by the Trustee, provided such form meets the requirements of any exchange upon which such series may be listed, as to any matter provided for in such supplemental indenture. If the Company or the Trustee shall so determine, new Securities of that series so modified as to conform, in the opinion of the Trustee and the Board of Directors, to any modification of this Indenture contained in any such supplemental indenture may be prepared by the Company, authenticated by the Trustee and delivered in exchange for the Securities of that series then Outstanding.
SECTION 9.05.  The Trustee, subject to the provisions of Section 7.01, may receive an Opinion of Counsel as conclusive evidence that any supplemental indenture executed pursuant to this Article is authorized or permitted by, and conforms to, the terms of this Article and that it is proper for the Trustee under the provisions of this Article to join in the execution thereof.
ARTICLE X.
CONSOLIDATION, MERGER AND SALE

SECTION 10.01.  Nothing contained in this Indenture or in any of the Securities shall prevent any consolidation or merger of the Company with or into any other corporation or corporations (whether or not affiliated with the Company), or successive consolidations or mergers in which the Company or its successor or successors shall be a party or parties, or shall prevent any sale, conveyance, transfer or other disposition of the property of the Company or its successor or successors as an entirety, or substantially as an entirety, to any other corporation (whether or not affiliated with the Company or its successor or successors) authorized to acquire and operate the same; provided, however, the Company hereby covenants and agrees that, upon any such consolidation, merger, sale, conveyance, transfer or other disposition, (a) the due and punctual payment of the principal of (premium, if any) and interest on all of the Securities of all series in accordance with the terms of each series, according to their tenor, and the due and punctual performance and observance of all the covenants and conditions of this Indenture with respect to each series or established with respect to such series pursuant to Section 2.01 to be kept or performed by the Company, shall be expressly assumed, by supplemental indenture (which shall conform to the provisions of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 as then in effect) satisfactory in form to the Trustee executed and delivered to the Trustee by the Company formed by such consolidation, or into which the Company shall have been merged, or by the corporation which shall have acquired such property and (b) the corporation or corporations formed by such consolidation or into which the Company is merged or the Person or Persons which acquire by conveyance or transfer, or which lease, the properties and assets of the Company substantially as an entirety shall be a Person or Persons organized and existing under the laws of the United States of America, any State thereof or the District of Columbia.

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SECTION 10.02.
(a)In case of any such consolidation, merger, sale, conveyance, transfer or other disposition and upon the assumption by the successor corporation, by supplemental indenture, executed and delivered to the Trustee and satisfactory in form to the Trustee, of the due and punctual payment of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on all of the Securities of all series Outstanding and the due and punctual performance of all of the covenants and conditions of this Indenture or established with respect to each series of the Securities pursuant to Section 2.01 to be performed by the Company with respect to each series, such  successor corporation shall succeed to and be substituted for the Company, with the same effect as if it had been named herein as the party of the first part, and thereupon the predecessor corporation shall be relieved of all obligations and covenants under this Indenture and the Securities. Such successor corporation thereupon may cause to be signed, and may issue either in its own name or in the name of the Company or any other predecessor obligor on the Securities, any or all of the Securities issuable hereunder which theretofore shall not have been signed by the Company and delivered to the Trustee; and, upon the order of such successor company, instead of the Company, and subject to all the terms, conditions and limitations in this Indenture prescribed, the Trustee shall authenticate and shall deliver any securities which previously shall have been signed and delivered by the officers of the predecessor Company to the Trustee for authentication, and any Securities which such successor corporation thereafter shall cause to be signed and delivered.to the Trustee for that purpose. All the Securities so issued shall in all respects have the same legal rank and benefit under this Indenture as the Securities theretofore or thereafter issued in accordance with the terms of this Indenture as though all of such Securities had been issued at the date of the execution hereof.
(b)In case of any such consolidation, merger, sale, conveyance, transfer or other disposition such changes in phraseology and form (but not in substance) may be made in the Securities thereafter to be issued as may be appropriate.
(c)Nothing contained in this Indenture or in any of the Securities shall prevent the Company from merging into itself or acquiring by purchase or otherwise all or any part of the property of any other corporation (whether or not affiliated with the Company).

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SECTION 10.03.  The Trustee, subject to the provisions of Section 7.01, may receive an Opinion of Counsel as conclusive evidence that any such consolidation, merger, sale, conveyance, transfer or other disposition, and any such assumption, complies with the provisions of this Article.

ARTICLE XI.

SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE OF INDENTURE;
UNCLAIMED MONEYS

SECTION 11.01.  If at any time: (a) the Company shall have delivered to the Trustee for cancellation all Securities of a series theretofore authenticated (other than any Securities which shall have been destroyed, lost or stolen and which shall have been replaced or paid as provided in Section 2.07) and Securities for whose payment money or Governmental Obligations has theretofore been deposited in trust or segregated and held in trust by the Company (and thereupon repaid to the Company or discharged from such trust, as provided in Section 11.05) or (b) all such Securities of a particular series not theretofore delivered to the Trustee for cancellation shall have become due and payable, or are by their terms to become due and payable within one year or are to be called for redemption within one year under arrangements satisfactory to the Trustee for the giving of notice of redemption, and the Company shall deposit or cause to be deposited with the Trustee as trust funds the entire amount in moneys or Governmental Obligations sufficient or a combination thereof, sufficient, without reinvestment, in the opinion of a nationally recognized firm of independent public accountants expressed in a written certification thereof delivered to the Trustee, to pay at maturity or upon redemption all Securities of that series not theretofore delivered to the Trustee for cancellation, including principal (and premium, if any) and interest due or to become due to such date of maturity or date fixed for redemption, as the case may be, and if the Company shall also pay or cause to be paid all other sums payable hereunder with respect to such series by the Company, then this Indenture shall thereupon cease to be of further effect with respect to such series except for the provisions of Sections 2.05, 2.07, 4.02 and 7.10, which shall survive until the date of maturity or redemption date, as the case may be, and Sections 7.06 and 11.05 which shall survive to such date and thereafter, and the Trustee, on demand of the Company and at the cost and expense of the Company, shall execute proper instruments acknowledging satisfaction of and discharging this Indenture with respect to such series.

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SECTION 11.02.  If at any time all such Securities of a particular series not heretofore delivered to the Trustee for cancellation or which have not become due and payable as described in Section 11.01 shall have been paid by the Company by depositing irrevocably with the Trustee as trust funds moneys or an amount of Governmental Obligations sufficient to pay at maturity or upon redemption all such Securities of that series not theretofore delivered to the Trustee for cancellation, including principal (and premium, if any) and interest due or to become due to such date of maturity or date fixed for redemption, as the case may be, and if the Company shall also pay or cause to be paid all other sums payable hereunder by the Company with respect to such series, then after the date such moneys or Governmental Obligations, as the case may be, are deposited with the Trustee the obligations of the Company under this Indenture with respect to such series shall cease to be of further effect except for the provisions of Sections 2.05, 2.07, 4.02, 7.06, 7.10 and 11.05 hereof which shall survive until such Securities shall mature and be paid. Thereafter, Sections 7.06 and 11.05 shall survive.
SECTION 11.03.  All moneys or Governmental Obligations deposited with the Trustee pursuant to Sections 11.01 or 11.02 shall be held in trust and shall be available for payment as due, either directly or through any paying agent (including the Company acting as its own paying agent), to the holders of the particular series of Securities for the payment or redemption of which such moneys or Governmental Obligations have been deposited with the Trustee.
SECTION 11.04.  In connection with the satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture all moneys or Governmental Obligations then held by any paying agent under the provisions of this Indenture shall, upon demand of the Company, be paid to the Trustee and thereupon such paying agent shall be released from all further liability with respect to such moneys or Governmental Obligations.

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SECTION 11.05.  Any moneys or Governmental Obligations deposited with any paying agent or the Trustee, or then held by the Company, in trust for payment of principal of or premium or interest on the Securities of a particular series that are not applied but remain unclaimed by the holders of such Securities for two years after the date upon which the principal of (and premium, if any) or interest on such Securities shall have respectively become due and payable, shall be repaid to the Company on May 31 of each year or (if then held by the Company) shall be discharged from such trust; and thereupon the paying agent and the Trustee shall be released from all further liability with respect to such moneys or Governmental Obligations, and the holder of any of the Securities entitled to receive such payment shall thereafter, as an unsecured general creditor, look only to the Company for the payment thereof.

ARTICLE XII.

IMMUNITY OF INCORPORATORS, STOCKHOLDERS, OFFICERS
AND DIRECTORS

SECTION 12.01.  No recourse under or upon any obligation, covenant or agreement of this Indenture, or of any Security, or for any claim based thereon or otherwise in respect thereof, shall be had against any incorporator, stockholder, officer or director, past, present or future as such, of the Company or of any predecessor or successor corporation, either directly or through the Company or any such predecessor or successor corporation, whether by virtue of any constitution, statute or rule of law, or by the enforcement of any assessment or penalty or otherwise; it being expressly understood that this Indenture and the obligations issued hereunder are solely corporate obligations, and that no such personal liability whatever shall attach to, or is or shall be incurred by, the incorporators, stockholders, officers or directors as such, of the Company or of any predecessor or successor corporation, or any of them, because of the creation of the indebtedness hereby authorized, or under or by reason of the obligations, covenants or agreements contained in this Indenture or in any of the Securities or implied therefrom; and that any and all such personal liability of every name and nature, either at common law or in equity or by constitution or statute, of, and any and all such rights and claims against, every such incorporator, stockholder, officer or director as such, because of the creation of the indebtedness hereby authorized, or under or by reason of the obligations, covenants or agreements contained in this Indenture or in any of the Securities or implied therefrom, are hereby expressly waived and released as a condition of, and as a consideration for, the execution of this Indenture and the issuance of such Securities.

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ARTICLE XIII.

SUNDRY PROVISIONS

SECTION 13.01.  All the covenants, stipulations, promises and agreements in this Indenture contained by or on behalf of the Company shall bind its successors and assigns, whether so expressed or not.
SECTION 13.02.  Any act or proceeding by any provision of this Indenture authorized or required to be done or performed by any board, committee or officer of the Company shall and may be done and performed with like force and effect by the corresponding board, committee or officer of any corporation that shall at the time be the lawful sole successor of the Company.
SECTION 13.03.  The Company by instrument in writing executed by authority of its Board of Directors and delivered to the Trustee may surrender any of the powers reserved to the Company and thereupon such power so surrendered shall terminate both as to the Company and as to any successor corporation.
SECTION 13.04.  Except as otherwise expressly provided herein any notice or demand which by any provision of this Indenture is required or permitted to be given or served by the Trustee or by the holders of Securities to or on the Company may be given or served by being deposited first class postage prepaid in a post office letterbox addressed (until another address is filed in writing by the Company with the Trustee), as follows: Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc., 100 Century Park Drive, Monroe, Louisiana 71203, Attention: R. Stewart Ewing, Jr. Such notice shall be deemed effective upon dispatch. Any notice, election, request or demand by the Company or any Securityholder to or upon the Trustee shall be deemed to have been sufficiently given or made, for all purposes, if given or made in writing at the Corporate Trust Office of the Trustee, Attention: Corporate Trust Administration.
SECTION 13.05.  This Indenture and each Security shall be deemed to be a contract made under the laws of the State of Louisiana, and for all purposes shall be construed in accordance with the laws of said State.
SECTION 13.06.
(a)Upon any application or demand by the Company to the Trustee to take any action under any of the provisions of this Indenture, the Company shall furnish to the Trustee an Officers' Certificate stating that all conditions precedent provided for in this Indenture relating to the proposed action have been complied with and an Opinion of Counsel stating that in the opinion of such counsel all such conditions precedent have been complied with, except that in the case of any such application or demand as to which the furnishing of no such documents is specifically required by any provision of this Indenture relating to such particular application or demand, no additional certificate or opinion need be furnished.

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(b)Each certificate or opinion provided for in this Indenture and delivered to the Trustee with respect to compliance with a condition or covenant in this Indenture shall include (1) a statement that the person making such certificate or opinion has read such covenant or condition; (2) a brief statement as to the nature and scope of the examination or investigation upon which the statements or opinions contained in such certificate or opinion are based; (3) a statement that, in the opinion of such person, such person has made such examination or investigation as is necessary to enable him to express an informed opinion as to whether or not such covenant or condition has been complied with; and (4) a statement as to whether or not, in the opinion of such person, such condition or covenant has been complied with.
SECTION 13.07.  In any case where the date of maturity, of interest payment or principal payment of any Security or the date of redemption of any Security shall not be a Business Day, then payment of interest or principal (and premium, if any) may be made on the next succeeding business day with the same force and effect as if made on the nominal date of maturity or redemption, and no interest shall accrue for the period after such nominal date.
SECTION 13.08. If and to the extent that any provision of this Indenture limits, qualifies or conflicts with the duties imposed by Sections 310 to 317, inclusive, of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended, such imposed duties shall control.
SECTION 13.09.  This Indenture may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original; but such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument.
SECTION 13.10. In case any one or more of the provisions contained in this Indenture or in the Securities of any series shall for any reason be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other provisions of this Indenture or of such Securities, but this Indenture and such Securities shall be construed as if such invalid or illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein or therein. 
First American Bank & Trust of Louisiana hereby accepts the trusts in this Indenture declared and provided, upon the terms and conditions hereinabove set forth.
* * * * * * * * * *

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Indenture to be duly executed, and their respective corporate seals to be hereunto affixed and attested, all as of the day and year first above written.
CENTURY TELEPHONE ENTERPRISES, INC.
                                                   By:             /s/ Glen F. Post, III        
Glen F. Post, III
Vice Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
Attest:
By:          /s/ R. Stewart Ewing, Jr.    
     R. Stewart Ewing, Jr.
Assistant Secretary
   FIRST AMERICAN BANK & TRUST OF LOUISIANA
as Trustee
                    
 By:              /s/ William W. Keith                                                        William W. Keith
                                          Executive Vice President
         and Trust Officer

Attest:

By:          /s/ A. J. McGinn, Jr.        
		
	A.
	J. McGinn, Jr.

Assistant Secretary

58

STATE OF LOUISIANA )
                              ) ss.:
PARISH OF OUACHITA )                                                 

On the 14th day of April 1994, before me personally came Glen F. Post, III, to me known, who, being by me duly sworn, did depose and say that he is the Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc., one of the corporations described in and which executed the foregoing instrument; that he knows the seal of said corporation; that the seal affixed to said instrument is such corporate seal; that it was so affixed by authority of the Board of Directors of said corporation, and that he signed his name thereto by like authority.

/s/ Kathy E. Tettleton     
               Notary Public
                                                                    [Notarial Seal]

STATE OF LOUISIANA )
                                ) ss.:
PARISH OF OUACHITA )                                                 

On the 14th day of April 1994, before me personally came William W. Keith, to me known, who, being by me duly sworn, did depose and say that he is the Executive Vice President and Trust Officer of First American Bank & Trust of Louisiana, one of the corporations described in and which executed the foregoing instrument; that he knows the seal of said corporation; that the seal affixed to said instrument is such corporate seal; that it was so affixed by authority of the Board of Directors of said corporation, and that he signed his name thereto by like authority.

/s/ Charles H. Ryan       
           Notary Public
                                                                    [Notarial Seal]

59CTL 2014.12.31 EX 10.13

CENTURYLINK
EXECUTIVE SEVERANCE PLAN
AS AMENDED AND RESTATED
EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS
	
					
	 
	 
	 
	Page

	ARTICLE I
	PURPOSE OF PLAN
	 
	1
	

	ARTICLE II
	DEFINITIONS
	 
	1
	

	ARTICLE III
	ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS
	 
	9
	

	ARTICLE IV
	DETERMINATION OF SEVERANCE BENEFITS
	 
	10
	

	ARTICLE V
	TIMING AND METHOD OF PAYMENT AND LIMITATION ON BENEFITS    
	 
	13
	

	ARTICLE VI
	RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS
	 
	16
	

	ARTICLE VII
	PLAN ADMINISTRATOR
	 
	19
	

	ARTICLE VIII
	AMENDMENT, SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION
	 
	22
	

	ARTICLE IX
	CLAIMS PROCEDURES
	 
	22
	

	ARTICLE X
	MISCELLANEOUS
	 
	24
	

	EXHIBIT A
	FORM OF RELEASE AGREEMENT
	 
	1
	

	EXHIBIT B
	ARBITRATION PROVISION
	 
	1
	

2

ARTICLE I
PURPOSE OF PLAN
Section 1.01 Purpose of the Plan.  The Plan is not intended to be an “employee pension benefit plan” or “pension plan” within the meaning of section 3(2) of ERISA.  Rather, the Plan is intended to be a “welfare benefit plan” within the meaning of section 3(1) of ERISA and to meet the descriptive requirements of a plan constituting a “severance pay plan” within the meaning of regulations published by the Secretary of Labor at 29 CFR § 2510.3-2(b).  No employee contributions are required or permitted.  Accordingly, no employee has or shall have a vested right to such benefits. 
Section 1.02 Application of the Plan.  The Plan shall generally be applicable to an Involuntary Termination or Good Reason Resignation, as defined herein.  This Plan supersedes any other plan, policy, program, or arrangement providing an Eligible Employee with severance or related benefits, with the exception of (i) any vested benefits under another severance or change of control plan, policy, or arrangement which became effective prior to the Effective Date, and (ii) any contract between CenturyLink (including its predecessors) and an Eligible Employee concerning the provision of severance benefits following a termination of employment. Accordingly, the Plan applies to all Eligible Employees terminated due to an Involuntary Termination with a Termination Date on or after July 1, 2014.  Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, there is intended to be no duplication of severance benefits to an Eligible Employee.  As such, if an Eligible Employee has any vested rights under another severance or change of control plan, policy, arrangement or contract for severance benefits following termination of employment, this Plan shall not apply to such Eligible Employee with respect to such termination. 

Section 1.03 Gender and Number.  Whenever used herein, the masculine pronoun shall include the feminine and the singular shall encompass the plural.

ARTICLE II
DEFINITIONS
“Base Salary” means the Eligible Employee’s annual rate of base pay, as reflected in the Company’s payroll or personnel files, in effect on a specified date. 
“Board” means the Board of Directors of CenturyLink, Inc., or any successor thereto, or its delegate, including but not limited to, a committee thereof specifically designated for purposes of making determinations hereunder.
“Cause” means an Eligible Employee’s (i) failure to substantially perform his duties, (ii) failure to substantially achieve the objectives of his position, (iii) failure to substantially comply with supervisor directives, (iv) conduct that violates the Company’s ethics and compliance program, including its Code of Conduct, (v) conduct that is injurious to the Company’s reputation, customer relationships, employees or finances, (vi) act(s) that, if proven in a court of law, would constitute a felony crime, (vii) act(s) of dishonesty, fraud or moral turpitude, or (viii) violation of any of the restrictive covenants found in Article VI.  The Plan Administrator, in its sole discretion, shall determine whether the elements of Cause have been met, including whether the facts and circumstances indicate that the Employee’s actions constitute a violation of the Company’s ethics and compliance program and/or are injurious to the Company.  
“CEO” means the Executive Officer who is designated by the Board as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

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“Change in Control” means any of the following events:
(a)     the acquisition, directly or indirectly, by any “person” or “group” (as those terms are defined in sections 3(a)(9), 13(d), and 14(d) of the Exchange Act and the rules thereunder, including Rule 13d-5(b)) of “beneficial ownership” (as determined pursuant to Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) of securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors (‘voting securities”) of the Company that represent 30% or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding voting securities, other than: 
(i)     an acquisition by a trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under any employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by the Company or any person controlled by the Company or by any employee benefit plan (or related trust) sponsored or maintained by the Company or any person controlled by the Company, or
(ii)     an acquisition of voting securities by the Company or a corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of the Company of at least 50% of the voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company, or
(iii)     an acquisition of voting securities pursuant to a transaction described in subsection (c) below that would not be a Change in Control under subsection (c) below;
(b)     a change in the composition of the Board that causes less than a majority of the directors of the Company to be directors that meet one or more of the following descriptions:
(i)     a director who has been a director of the Company for a continuous period of at last 24 months (or, if less, since the date the shares of Company common stock were listed on the New York Stock Exchange) or,
(ii)     a director whose election or nomination as a director was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the then directors described in subsections 2.04(b)(i), (ii) or (iii) by prior nomination or election, but excluding, for the purpose of this subsection (ii), any director whose initial assumption to office occurred as a result of an actual or threatened (y) election contest with respect to the election or removal of directors or other actual or threatened solicitation of proxies or consents by or on behalf of a person or group other than the Board or (z) tender offer, merger, sale of substantially all of the Company’s assets, consolidation, reorganization or business combination that would be a Change in Control under subsection (c) below on consummation thereof, or
(iii)     who were serving on the Board as result of the consummation of a transaction described in subsection (c) below that would not be a Change in Control under subsection (c) below;
(c)     the consummation by the Company (whether directly involving the Company or indirectly involving the Company through one or more intermediaries) of 
(i)     a consolidation, merger, reorganization or business combination or 
(ii)     a sale or disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets or
(iii)     the acquisition of assets or stock of another entity,
in each case, other than in a transaction, (x) that results in the Company’s voting securities outstanding immediately before the transaction continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into voting securities of the Company or the person that, as a result of the transaction, controls, 

4

directly or indirectly, the Company or owns, directly or indirectly, all or substantially all of the Company’s assets or otherwise succeeds to the business of the Company (the Company or such person, the “Successor Entity”)) directly or indirectly, at least 50% of the combined voting power of the Successor Entity’s outstanding voting securities immediately after the transaction and (y) after which more than 50% of the members of the Board of the Successor Entity were members of the Board at the time of the Board’s approval of the transaction or other action of the Board approving the transaction (or whose election or nomination was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members who were members of the Board at that time), and (z) after which no person or group beneficially owns voting securities representing 30% or more of the combined voting power of the Successor Entity; provided, however, no person or group shall be treated for purposes of this subsection (z) as beneficially owning 30% or more of combined voting power of the Successor Entity solely as a result of the voting power held in the Company before the consummation of the transaction; or 
(d)     a liquidation or dissolution of the Company other than in connection with a transaction described in subsection (c) above that would not be a Change in Control thereunder.
“CIC Termination” means an Eligible Employee’s Involuntary Termination within one year after the date of a Change in Control or Good Reason Resignation. 
“COBRA” means the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, as amended, as codified in section 4980B of the Code, and Part 6 of Title I of ERISA and as amended by subsequent legislation.
“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and regulations thereunder.
“Company” means CenturyLink, Inc. and, solely CenturyLink, Inc’s U.S.-based affiliates and subsidiaries, as well as any predecessor (specifically including but not limited to U.S.-based affiliates and subsidiaries of EMBARQ Corporation, Qwest Communications International, Inc. and Savvis, Inc.) that are Participating Companies as defined in the Plan and on Exhibit C.  
“Comparable Position” means a position offered in connection with a reduction in headcount, an outsourcing to a vendor, a merger of distinct business groups or companies or a change in company ownership as a result of a merger or acquisition that (i) is within a driving distance of 50 miles of the Participant’s current  work location and (ii) has a Total Targeted Compensation (Base Salary plus target short term incentive or sales incentive opportunity) of at least 90% of the Participant’s current Total Targeted Compensation.  A job at job grades M5 and below (or their equivalent) is not a “Comparable Position.”  
“Competitive Employment” means the direct or indirect performance of duties or responsibilities (whether paid or unpaid and whether as a consultant, employee or otherwise) for a Competitor, including, without limitation, the ownership of any interest in, the provision of any financing, management or advisory services to, any connection with or being a principal, partner or agent of, any Competitor; provided that the Eligible Employee  may passively own less than 1% of the outstanding shares of any Competitor.
“Competitor” means any person, firm, company, corporation or other entity, that markets, sells, resells or otherwise engages in the business of selling to any business or government customer any product or service that is competitive, in any territory or location where the Company does business, with any of the following services, which may be changed from time to time and over time:  local exchange telephone service (including services provided by wireless and cable providers), E-911 service, long distance services, dial-up and high-speed Internet access, security monitoring and related services, video delivery, web development, web hosting, high speed data services, wireless communications, IPTV and other video services (including satellite or cable television services), data hosting, cloud computing, any other product or service provided to 

5

customers of the Company which the Employee sold or supported, and any other products and services ancillary or related thereto.  The burden is on the Eligible Employee to demonstrate that such person is not a Competitor.
“Effective Date” means July 1, 2014. Accordingly, the Plan applies to all Eligible Employees of a Participating Company who are terminated due to an Involuntary Termination with a Termination Date on or after July 1, 2014.
“Eligible Employee” means an Employee who holds, as of his Termination Date, a job in grades M6 or above or E1 or above, or equivalent grades if a different job grading system is used, as reflected in the Company’s personnel records.  An otherwise “Eligible Employee” is not eligible for:  (a) benefits under this Plan relating to a Non-CiC Termination, including Sections 4.01 and 4.03 (“Non-CiC Severance Benefits”), if he has signed and not revoked a binding contract with CenturyLink (including its predecessors) concerning the provision of benefits similar to Non-CiC Severance Benefits to that Employee following a termination of employment and (b) benefits under this Plan relating to a CiC Termination, including Sections 4.02 and 4.03 (“CiC Severance Benefits”), if he has signed and not revoked a binding contract with CenturyLink (including its predecessors) concerning the provision of benefits similar to CiC Severance Benefits to that Employee following a termination of employment.  If there is any question as to whether an Employee is an Eligible Employee for purposes of the Plan, the Administrator shall make the determination.  “Eligible Employee” also excludes an Employee who signed a waiver of his rights under this Plan subsequent to the Effective Date.  Additionally, an Employee is not an “Eligible Employee” if:  
(1)     he is covered by the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement which address the same issues as this Plan, in which case the collective bargaining agreement will prevail and this Plan shall not apply; 
(2)     he is covered by the provisions of the CenturyLink Reduction In Force Policy or an individual employee agreement which address the same issues as this Plan, in which case the CenturyLink Reduction In Force Plan or such individual agreement will prevail and this Plan shall not apply; 
(3)     the provisions of any other reduction in force or severance plan or policy apply to any group of employees of the Company (such as employees who join the Company via merger or acquisition who are covered by a reduction in force or severance plan or policy that remains in effect after the acquisition; employees of a particular subsidiary or division; or employees at a particular location), in which case the terms of such plan or policy shall apply and this Plan shall not apply; 
(4)     he is a Temporary Employee, which term is defined to mean all employees of a Participating Company who are hired to perform an assignment which is not intended to be ongoing and which is intended to have a specified end date (by reference to a calendar end date or a project end date) and/or who are classified on the payroll and/or HR systems as “temporary;”
(5)     his employment with the Company is Terminated voluntarily, such as by resignation (whether or not the employee claims a constructive discharge or forced resignation) or retirement (whether or not such voluntary Termination may have been influenced by pending or threatened layoffs), or Terminated involuntarily due to attendance (other than absences that are protected by applicable law), job performance or misconduct, including but not limited to violation of the Code of Conduct or other CenturyLink policies;
(6)     he is offered a Comparable Position or he is offered and accepts a position  with CenturyLink, a vendor to which CenturyLink outsourced the employee’s work, or any successor to CenturyLink and such position is not a Comparable Position;

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(7)     he is not classified in CenturyLink’s payroll and/or HR systems as an “employee,” regardless of whether such person is determined by any court, governmental agency or other entity to be an employee under any federal, state or local law, regulation or rule;  
(8)     he is employed by a non-U.S. subsidiary or affiliate, or he/she has been transferred from a non-U.S. subsidiary or affiliate to U.S. subsidiary or affiliate for a finite period of time pursuant to a letter of assignment; or 
(9)     he is not employed by a Participating Company, or the participation of the Participating Company is limited by the Plan such that the employee is not eligible; or
(10)     he is considered classified on the payroll and/or HR systems as a CenturyLink Government Services Modified Benefits employee.
“Employee” means an individual employed by a Participating Company within the United States as an employee, and excludes any person working for the Company through a temporary service or on a leased basis or who is hired by the Company as an independent contractor, consultant, or otherwise, and excludes a person who is not an employee, or not treated as such, for purposes of withholding federal employment taxes, as evidenced by payroll records or a written agreement with the individual, regardless of any contrary governmental or judicial determination or holding relating to such status or tax withholding. 
“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and regulations thereunder.
“Executive Officer” means an Eligible Employee who is (i) a Vice-President, including Senior Vice-President and Executive Vice-President, reporting directly to the CEO, (ii) an Officer, other than the CEO, designated on an annual or other periodic basis as a Section 16 Officer of the Company, or (iii) an Officer, other than the CEO, designated by the Compensation Committee of the Board as a Senior Officer (as such term is defined in the Compensation Committee's charter).  

“Good Reason Resignation” means an Eligible Employee’s written resignation within 30 days of the notification to the Employee of any of the following events (each a “Trigger Event”) related to a Change in Control: 
(a)    a reduction of more than 10% in the Eligible Employee’s Base Salary in effect immediately prior to the Change in Control.
(b)     a demotion that results in both (i) the movement of an Eligible Employee from one job level to a lower job level (that is, Senior Vice-President to Vice-President or below, Vice-President to Director or below, or Director to Manager or below) and (ii) a material reduction or diminution of authority, duties, responsibilities, and/or budget or fiscal authority.  “Demotion” excludes any move from one job to another initiated by the Employee.  
(c)    relocation of the Eligible Employee’s principal work location to a location more than 50 miles from the work location immediately prior to the Change in Control.
In order to constitute a Good Reason Resignation, one of the above three Trigger Events must occur within one year following a Change in Control.  
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the written resignation shall not constitute a “Good Reason Resignation” if the Company fully corrects the circumstances giving rise to the Good Reason Resignation 

7

within 30 days following receipt of written notice from the Eligible Employee (the “30-day Cure Period”).  If the Company does not fully correct the circumstances that gave rise to the Good Reason Resignation within the 30-day Cure Period, the Eligible Employee’s employment shall be deemed to be a Good Reason Resignation and to have Terminated no later than two years following the expiration of the 30-day Cure Period or the Company’s notice that it does not intend to cure, whichever is earlier. 
“Involuntary Termination” means a Termination of the Eligible Employee’s employment, initiated by the Company for any reason other than Cause, Permanent Disability or death.  
“Non-CIC Termination” means an Eligible Employee’s Involuntary Termination of employment prior to a Change in Control. 
“Non-Compete Period” means the one year (12 consecutive months, not necessarily a calendar year) time period immediately following Termination Date.  If the Participant does not receive some or all of his severance pay due to the provisions of Section 3.01(b) (Conditions), or Section 4.04 (Voluntary Resignation, Termination for Death or Permanent Disability) or Section 4.05 (Termination for Cause), then the Non-Compete Period shall be reduced in direct proportion to the reduction of the Severance Period.
“Participant” means an Eligible Employee entitled to Severance Benefits. 
“Participating Company” means any divisions, subsidiaries or affiliates of the Company that participate in the Plan on or after the Effective Date of this restatement of the Plan and as listed, or as may be restricted, on Exhibit C.  The CenturyLink Plan Design Committee or the Vice President of Human Resources with responsibility for benefits, or their respective designee, have the authority to amend Exhibit C at any time and from time to time, including but not limited to, adding or restricting participation of an entity as a Participating Company as such participation is approved by the CenturyLink Plan Design Committee.
“Permanent Disability” means that an Eligible Employee has a permanent and total incapacity from engaging in any employment for the Company for physical or mental reasons.  A “Permanent Disability” shall be deemed to exist if the Eligible Employee is judged to satisfy the requirements for disability benefits under the Company’s long-term disability plan.
“Plan” means the CenturyLink Executive Severance Plan, as set forth herein and as it may be amended from time to time.
“Plan Administrator” is the CenturyLink Employee Benefits Committee as delegated by the Board of Directors to administer the terms of the Plan.  In the event any member of the Employee Benefits Committee is entitled to Severance Benefits under the Plan or makes a claim for benefits under the Plan, the remaining members of the Employee Benefits Committee shall act as the Plan Administrator for purposes of administering the terms of the Plan with respect to such employee.  The Plan Administrator may delegate all or any portion of its authority under the Plan to any other person(s).   
“Release” means the Confidential Separation Agreement and Release in Full of All Claims, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, as the same may be amended from time to time in the sole discretion of the Company.
“Service” means the total number of completed years the Eligible Employee was an Employee of the Company, as reflected in the Company’s payroll and human resources records pursuant to the provisions of the CenturyLink Service Bridging Policy.  Any period of employment with the Company, a Subsidiary, or a predecessor Company for which an Eligible Employee previously received Severance Benefits from the Company, shall be excluded from Service and, thus, not included in calculating any Severance Benefit, except 

8

to the extent the Eligible Employee repaid CenturyLink the Severance Benefits relating to such Service pursuant to Section 4.07.
“Severance Benefit” means the severance pay amounts and benefits that a Participant is eligible to receive pursuant to Article IV of the Plan based on the Eligible Employee’s Service.
“Severance Period” means the number of weeks for which an Eligible Employee is entitled to receive Severance Benefits pursuant to Article IV of the Plan based on the Eligible Employee’s Service. 
“Specified Employee” means, subject to section 409A(2)(B)(i) of the Code and Treasury Regulations issued thereunder, (i) an Employee who is an officer of the Company or its Subsidiaries and having annual compensation (within the meaning of section 414(q)(4) of the Code) greater than $165,000 (for 2012, as it may be adjusted for inflation as described in section 416(i) of the Code), provided the number of such officers who are considered Specified Employees shall be limited to 50 employees as described in section 416(i) of the Code, (ii) a five‐percent owner of the Company and its Subsidiaries, or (iii) a one‐percent owner of the Company and its Subsidiaries who has annual compensation from the Company and its Subsidiaries greater than $150,000.  For purposes of determining who are Specified Employees, all Employees of the Company and its Subsidiaries, including employees who are nonresident aliens, shall be considered.  The Plan Administrator, or its duly-appointed designee, shall determine the Specified Employees each year in accordance with section 416(i) of the Code, the “specified employee” requirements of section 409A of the Code, and applicable regulations.  Specified Employees shall be identified as of December 31 of each year with respect to the 12-month period beginning on the next following April 1.
“Subsidiary” means (a) a U.S.-based subsidiary of the Company (wherever incorporated, including but not limited to any subsidiary of EMBARQ Corporation, Qwest Communications International, Inc. and Savvis), (b) any separately organized business unit, whether or not incorporated, of the Company, (c) any U.S.-based Company that is required to be aggregated with the Company pursuant to section 414 of the Code and regulations issued thereunder, and (iv) notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, , in order for employees a Subsidiary to be considered as eligible for benefits under the Plan, such Subsidiary must be listed as a Participating Company on Exhibit C..  
“Termination” or “Terminated” means a separation from service with the Company as defined in Treasury Regulation § 1.409A-1(h).
“Termination Date” means the date on which the active employment of the Eligible Employee by the Participating Company is severed, whether by reason of an Involuntary Termination, Voluntary Resignation, Good Reason Resignation or Termination for Cause.
“Total Targeted Cash Compensation” means the Eligible Employee’s annual rate of Base Salary in effect on a specified date plus the targeted annual incentive opportunity under either the short-term incentive compensation program or the sales incentive compensation program, as applicable, on that same date.
“Voluntary Resignation” means any retirement or Termination that is not initiated by the Company other than a Good Reason Resignation.
“Year of Service” means each completed full year of Service.

9

ARTICLE III
ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS
Section 3.01 Conditions.
(a)     Eligibility for and receipt of any Severance Benefits under the Plan are expressly conditioned on the Eligible Employee’s (i) execution of a Release in connection with his termination of employment with the Company; (ii) compliance with all the terms and conditions of such Release; (iii) compliance with all the terms and conditions of the restrictive covenants set forth in Article VI; (iv) execution of a written agreement that authorizes the deduction of amounts owed to the Company prior to the payment of any Severance Benefit (or in accordance with any other schedule as the Plan Administrator may determine to be appropriate); provided that, to the extent applicable, any such deduction shall be made in compliance with section 409A of the Code; and (v) acknowledgement that all decisions and determinations of the Plan Administrator shall be final and binding on the Eligible Employee, his beneficiaries and any other person having or claiming an interest under the Plan on his behalf.
(b)     If the Plan Administrator determines that the Eligible Employee has not fully complied with any of the terms of the Plan or the Release, the Plan Administrator, acting on behalf of the Company, may deny Severance Benefits not yet paid or discontinue the payment of the Eligible Employee’s Severance Benefits and may require the Eligible Employee to repay any portion of any Severance Benefits already received under the Plan, by providing written notice of such repayment obligation to the Eligible Employee.  If the Plan Administrator notifies a Participant that repayment of all or any portion of the Severance Benefits received under the Plan is required, such amounts shall be repaid within 30 calendar days of the date the written notice is sent. Any remedy under this subsection (b) shall be in addition to, and not in place of, any other remedy, including injunctive relief, that the Company may have.
ARTICLE IV
DETERMINATION OF SEVERANCE BENEFITS
Section 4.01 Severance Benefits - Non-CIC Termination.  Each Participant who incurs an Involuntary Termination, other than a CIC Termination, shall, subject to the conditions of the Plan, receive the Severance Benefits as provided in this Section.  The Severance Benefits described in this Section shall be paid in accordance with Article V.
	
		
	Tier Title
	Severance Period

	Director at M6 or M7
	6 weeks of Total Targeted Cash Compensation plus an additional 2 weeks of same for each Year of Service up to a maximum of 52 weeks, but in no event less than 26 weeks.

	Vice-President at E1 or above, other than Executive Officers
	6 weeks of Total Targeted Cash Compensation plus an additional 2 weeks of same for each Year of Service up to a maximum of 52 weeks, but in no event less than 39 weeks.

	Executive Officers
	52 weeks of Total Targeted Cash Compensation

	CEO
	104 weeks of Total Targeted Cash Compensation

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Section 4.02 Severance Benefits - CIC Termination.  Each Participant who incurs a CIC Termination shall, subject to the conditions of the Plan, receive the Severance Benefits subject to the conditions of the Plan, as provided in this Section, which benefits shall be paid in accordance with Article V: 
	
		
	Tier Title
	Severance Period

	Director at M6 or M7
	6 weeks of Total Targeted Cash Compensation plus an additional 2 weeks of same for each Year of Service up to a maximum of 52 weeks, but in no event less than 26 weeks.

	Vice-President at E1 or above, other than Executive Officers
	52 weeks of Total Targeted Cash Compensation 

Section 4.03 Severance Benefits - Non-CiC Terminations or CiC Terminations.  The following additional provisions apply to Participants who incur either a CIC Termination or a Non-CIC Termination:
(a)     Employee Benefits.  Medical (including prescription drug), vision, dental and life insurance coverage for the Participant and his/her dependents, if enrolled at the time of Termination, will continue through the last day of the month in which the Termination occurs.  Participating Participants, and if applicable, their dependents may elect under COBRA to continue coverage for a monthly charge under the Company’s medical (including prescription drug), vision and dental plans for a maximum of 18 months beyond the date coverage would otherwise terminate, subject to the provisions of the applicable plans and COBRA.  The Company will provide COBRA enrollment information to employees within 45 days following the Termination Date.  Employees who wish to continue coverage must return the COBRA enrollment forms within 60 days from receipt of the COBRA notification.  
Participants who elect COBRA coverage will be eligible to receive a subsidy to their COBRA payments according to the schedule in the following chart.  The subsidy means that the Participant will pay the same premium contribution rate for medical/prescription, vision and dental coverage during the period of the subsidy as active employees pay.  Following the expiration of the subsidy, the employee will pay the COBRA rate, which is 102% of the cost of coverage, as long as coverage remains in place.  
The COBRA subsidy will terminate upon the earlier of (i) the date the Participant discontinues COBRA coverage or otherwise becomes ineligible for COBRA coverage, or (ii) the date the Participant is eligible to enroll (regardless of whether he actually enrolls) in medical coverage sponsored by a subsequent employer of the Participant. 
	
			
	Employee Level
	Weeks of Severance 
	Maximum Months of COBRA Subsidy

	Director at M6 or M7 
	26-38
	6

	Director at M6 at M6 or above or Vice-President at E1 or above
	39-51
	9

	Director at M6 at M6 or above or Vice-President at E1 or above
	52
	12

 
(b)    Short Term Incentive or Sales Incentive Payment for Period Prior to Termination Date.  Short-term incentive or sales incentive compensation for the period prior to the Termination Date shall be calculated and paid in accordance with the terms of the applicable short-term incentive compensation plan.

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(c)     Retirement Plans.  The provisions of any applicable qualified and/or nonqualified defined contribution or defined benefit plan maintained by the Company pursuant to which an Eligible Employee is eligible to participate, shall control with respect to any recognition of service during the Severance Period and the eligibility for benefits before, during and after the Severance Period.
(d)     Equity.  The provisions of any applicable equity incentive plan or equity compensation plan maintained by the Company pursuant to which an Eligible Employee has received an equity grant and the Eligible Employee’s relevant grant agreement shall control with respect to the treatment of the Eligible Employee’s equity grants upon the Eligible Employee’s Termination.
(e)    Outplacement Assistance.  The Company at its cost shall provide to the Participant outplacement assistance by a reputable firm specializing in such services.  Such assistance shall comply with the requirements of the duration of Treasury Regulation § 1.409A-1(b)(9)(v)(A).  
(f)    Any failure to execute a Release within the time period set forth in Section 5.01 will result in the forfeiture of the compensation (if any) contingent upon execution of such Release.
Section 4.04 Voluntary Resignation; Termination for Death or Permanent Disability.  If the Eligible Employee’s employment terminates on account of the Eligible Employee’s (a) Voluntary Resignation, (b) death, or (c) Permanent Disability, then the Eligible Employee shall not be entitled to receive Severance Benefits under this Plan and shall be entitled only to those benefits (if any) as may be available under the Company’s applicable equity incentive plans, equity compensation plans, or equity grant agreements; other separation or severance plans, policies, or arrangements; or any other employee health, welfare, retirement or benefit plan.  
Section 4.05 Termination for Cause.  If the Company terminates the Eligible Employee’s employment for Cause, the Eligible Employee shall not be entitled to receive Severance Benefits under this Plan.  Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan to the contrary, if the Plan Administrator determines that an Eligible Employee engaged in conduct that constitutes Cause at any time prior to the Eligible Employee’s Termination Date, any Severance Benefits payable to the Eligible Employee under Article IV shall immediately cease, and the Eligible Employee shall be required to return any Severance Benefits paid to the Eligible Employee prior to such determination.  The Company may withhold paying Severance Benefits under the Plan pending resolution of an inquiry that could lead to a determination that Cause exists.
Section 4.06 Deductions from Severance Benefits.  The Plan Administrator reserves the right to make deductions in accordance with applicable law for any monies owed to the Company by the Eligible Employee or the value of Company property that the Eligible Employee has retained in his possession, e.g., if an employee (a) was overpaid commissions/sales incentive, (b) had a negative PTO balance, (c) retained a company laptop or other property, or (d) used his corporate card for unauthorized personal purchases.  To the extent applicable, any such deduction from Severance Benefits shall be made in compliance with section 409A of the Code.
Section 4.07 Repayment of Severance Benefits upon subsequent rehire.  Employees rehired by CenturyLink before the expiration of the period covered by their Severance Benefit will be required to repay all or part of the Severance Benefit upon rehire.  The repayment percentage is obtained by dividing the number of days remaining in the layoff period (i.e., the total number of days included in the Severance Benefit calculation minus the number of prior days in layoff status) by the total number of days included in the Severance Benefit calculation.  The amount to be repaid is equal to the total Severance Benefit multiplied by the repayment percentage. 

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ARTICLE V
TIMING AND METHOD OF PAYMENT
AND LIMITATION ON BENEFITS
Section 5.01 Timing and Method of Payment.  
(a)    Non-CiC Severance Benefits.  Subject to Section 5.02 below, Non-CiC Severance Benefits shall be paid periodically, in prorated installments on a bi-weekly basis in accordance with the Company’s normal payroll cycle, less withholding for all applicable federal, state and local taxes and other applicable withholdings and deductions, over the Participant’s Severance Period.  The first installment (including any retroactive installments) shall begin no later than 60 days after the Eligible Employee’s Termination Date, subject to the Eligible Employee’s execution of a Release and, if applicable, the expiration of any revocation period for such Release within such 60‐day period.  
(b)    CiC Severance Benefits.  Subject to Section 5.02 below, CiC Severance Benefits shall be paid in a single lump sum cash payment, less withholding for all applicable federal, state and local taxes and other applicable withholdings and deductions, no later than 60 days after the Eligible Employee’s Termination Date, subject to the Eligible Employee’s execution of a Release and, if applicable, the expiration of any revocation period for such Release within such 60‐day period.  
(c)    General Rules.  In the event of the Participant’s death after he  becomes entitled for Severance Benefits under the Plan, but prior to full payment of all Severance Benefits due to such Participant, any remaining Severance Benefits due to the Participant under Section 4.01 or 4.02 above shall be paid to the Participant’s estate in a lump sum payment within 60 days following written notification of the Participant’s death.  Interest will not be credited on any unpaid Severance Benefit due to a Participant.  Payment(s) shall be made by direct deposit or by mailing to the last address provided by the Participant to the Company or such other reasonable method as determined by the Plan Administrator.  
(d)     Timing of Payment Rules Applicable to Specified Employees.  
(i)    If the Participant is a Specified Employee on the date of the Participant’s Termination and there are benefits provided to the Employee hereunder that are taxable to the Participant, then the value of the aggregate amount of such taxable benefits provided to the Participant during the six month period following the Termination Date shall be limited to (A) the amount specified by section 402(g)(1)(B) of the Code for the year in which the Termination occurred, (B) medical benefits that are allowed to be provided during such time pursuant to Treasury Regulation § 1.409A-1(b)(9)(v)(B), (C) any amounts subject to the short-term deferral exception to section 409A of the Code, (D) any amount payable under the involuntary separation from service exception to section 409A of the Code, and (E) other payments to the extent they are covered by an exception to such 6-month delay applicable to Specified Employees, under section 409A of the Code, applicable Treasury Regulations and IRS guidance.  
(ii)     To the extent there has been delayed commencement of any portion of the Severance Benefits to which the Participant is entitled under this Plan in order to avoid a prohibited distribution under section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code (any such delayed commencement, a “Payment Delay”), such portion of the Participant’s Severance Benefit payments shall not be provided to Participant prior to the earlier of (A) the expiration of the six-month period measured from the date of Participant’s Termination or (2) the date of the Participant’s death.  Upon the earlier of such dates, all payments deferred pursuant to the Payment 

13

Delay shall be paid in a cash lump sum payment to the Participant, and any remaining payments due under the Plan shall be paid as otherwise provided herein.  
(e)    Application of Section 409A of the Code.  To the extent that the Company determines that any compensation or benefit payable under the Plan constitutes nonqualified deferred compensation within the meaning of section 409A of the Code, the Plan, with respect to such compensation or benefit, will be construed and interpreted to comply with the requirements of section 409A of the Code or one or more applicable exceptions thereto, in accordance with the statutory provisions of section 409A of the Code and any Treasury Regulations and other interpretive guidance issued thereunder.  Notwithstanding any provision of the Plan to the contrary:
(i)    No Guaranty of Tax Liability.  In no event does the Company guarantee any particular tax consequences, outcome or tax liability to Eligible Employees.  No provision of the Plan shall be interpreted or construed to transfer any liability for failure to comply with the requirements of section 409A of the Code from an Eligible Employee or any other individual to the Company.
(ii)    Additional Actions Permitted.  In the event the Company determines that any compensation or benefit payable hereunder may be subject to section 409A of the Code, the Company (without any obligation to do so or obligation to indemnify any Eligible Employee for any failure to do so) may adopt, without the consent of any Eligible Employee, such amendments to the Plan or take any other actions that the Company in its sole discretion determines are necessary or appropriate for such compensation or benefit to either (a) be exempt from section 409A of the Code or (b) comply with the requirements of section 409A of the Code.
(iii)    Actual Payment Date.  Whenever a payment under the Plan specifies a payment period, the actual date of payment within such specified period shall be within the sole discretion of the Company, and no Participant shall have any right (directly or indirectly) to determine the year in which such payment is made.
(iv)    Installments.  Each installment payment payable hereunder shall be deemed to be a separate payment for purposes of section 409A of the Code.
(v)     Reimbursements.  To the extent that any amounts payable hereunder are deemed to be reimbursements and other separation payments under Treasury Regulation §1.409A-1(b)(9)(v), they shall not be deemed to provide for the deferral of compensation governed by section 409A of the Code.  If they do constitute deferral of compensation governed by Code Section 409A, they shall be deemed to be reimbursements or in-kind benefits governed by Treasury Regulation § 1.409A-3(i)(1)(iv).  If the previous sentence applies, (i) the amount of expenses eligible for reimbursement or in-kind benefits provided during the Employee’s taxable year shall not affect the expenses eligible for reimbursement or in-kind benefits in any other taxable year, provided that the foregoing shall not be violated by any lifetime or annual limits contained in the Company’s group health plans; (ii) the reimbursement of an eligible expense must be made on or before the last day of the Eligible Employee’s taxable year following the taxable year in which the expense was incurred and (iii) the right to reimbursement or in-kind benefits shall not be subject to liquidation or exchange for another benefit.
(vi)    Application of the exceptions to section 409A of the Code are additive, that is, the exceptions may be “stacked” and used in combination with other exceptions, including but not limited to the short-term deferral exception and the separation pay exception.

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Section 5.03 Limitation on Benefits.
(a)     Notwithstanding anything set forth in the Plan to the contrary, if any payment or benefit, including the Severance Benefits, an Eligible Employee would receive from the Company (“Payment”) would (i) constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of section 280G of the Code and (ii) but for this sentence, be subject to the excise tax imposed by section 4999 of the Code (the “Excise Tax”), then such Payment shall be reduced to the Reduced Amount.  The “Reduced Amount” shall be either (x) the largest portion of the Payment that would result in no portion of the Payment being subject to the Excise Tax or (y) the largest portion, up to and including the total, of the Payment, whichever amount, after taking into account all applicable federal, state and local employment taxes, income taxes, and the Excise Tax (all computed at the highest applicable marginal rate), results in the Eligible Employee’s receipt, on an after-tax basis, of the greater amount of the Payment notwithstanding that all or some portion of the Payment may be subject to the Excise Tax.  If a reduction in payments or benefits (or a cancellation of the acceleration of vesting of stock options or equity awards) constituting “parachute payments” is necessary so that the Payment equals the Reduced Amount, such reduction and/or cancellation of acceleration shall occur in the order that provides the maximum economic benefit to the Eligible Employee. In the event that acceleration of vesting of a stock option or equity award is to be reduced, such acceleration of vesting also shall be canceled in the order that provides the maximum economic benefit to the Eligible Employee.
(b)     The Company shall appoint a nationally‐recognized accounting firm with appropriate subject matter expertise to make the determinations required under this Section 5.03.
(c)     The Company shall bear all expenses with respect to the making of the determinations by such accounting firm required to be made under this Section 5.03.  The accounting firm engaged to make the determinations under this Section 5.03 shall provide its calculations, together with detailed supporting documentation, to the Company and the Eligible Employee as soon as practicable after the date on which the Eligible Employee’s right to a Payment is triggered (if requested at that time by the Company or the Eligible Employee) or such other time as requested by the Company or the Eligible Employee.  If the accounting firm determines that no Excise Tax is payable with respect to a Payment, either before or after the application of the Reduced Amount, it shall furnish the Company with an opinion reasonably acceptable to the Eligible Employee that no Excise Tax will be imposed with respect to such Payment. Any good faith determinations of the accounting firm made under this Section 5.03 shall be final, binding, and conclusive upon the Company and the Eligible Employee.

ARTICLE VI
RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS
Section 6.01 Code of Conduct.  Each Eligible Employee shall adhere in all respects to the Company’s ethics and compliance program, Code of Conduct, Employee Handbook and/or other applicable policies, as they may from time to time be established, interpreted, amended or terminated.
Section 6.02 Proprietary Information.
(a)     Each Eligible Employee shall acknowledge that, during the course of his employment, the Eligible Employee has learned or will learn or develop Proprietary Information.  Each Eligible Employee shall further acknowledge that unauthorized disclosure or use of such Proprietary Information, other than in discharge of the Eligible Employee’s duties, will cause the Company irreparable harm.  Except in the course 

15

of his employment with the Company, in pursuit of the business of the Company, or as otherwise required in employment with the Company or by applicable law, each Eligible Employee shall not, during the course of his employment or at any time following termination of his employment, directly or indirectly, disclose, publish, communicate, or use on his behalf or another’s behalf, any Proprietary Information.  If during or after his employment, the Eligible Employee has any questions about whether particular information is Proprietary Information, the Eligible Employee shall consult with the Company’s General Counsel or other representative designated by the Company.
(b)     Each Eligible Employee shall also agree to promptly disclose to the Company any information, ideas, or inventions made or conceived by him or her that results from or are suggested by services performed by the Eligible Employee for the Company, and to assign to the Company all rights pertaining to such information, ideas, or inventions.  Knowledge or information of any kind disclosed by the Eligible Employee to the Company shall be deemed to have been disclosed without obligation on the part of the Company to hold the same in confidence, and the Company shall have the full right to use and disclose such knowledge and information without compensation to the Eligible Employee.
Section 6.03 Non-Competition.
(a)     During the Eligible Employee’s employment with the Company and during the Non-Compete Period, each Eligible Employee shall agree that he shall not engage in Competitive Employment. 
(b)     If an Eligible Employee ceases to be employed by the Company because of the sale, spin-off, divestiture, or other disposition by the Company of a Subsidiary, division, or other divested unit employing the Eligible Employee, this provision shall continue to apply during the Non-Compete Period, except that the Eligible Employee’s continued employment for the Subsidiary, division, or other divested unit disposed of by the Company shall not be deemed a violation of this provision.
Section 6.04 Inducement of Employees, Customers and Others.  During an Eligible Employee’s employment with the Company and during the Non-Compete Period, each Eligible Employee shall agree that he will not, directly or indirectly, solicit, induce, or encourage any employee, consultant, agent or customer of the Company or its Subsidiaries or vendors or other parties doing business with the Company or its Subsidiaries, to terminate their employment, agency, or other relationship with the Company or its Subsidiaries or to render services for or transfer business to any Competitor, and each Eligible Employee shall not initiate discussion with any such person for any such purpose or authorize or knowingly cooperate with the taking of any such actions by any other individual or entity on behalf of the Competitor.
Section 6.05 No Adverse Actions. During the Non-Compete Period, each Eligible Employee shall not, without the prior written consent of the Company, in any manner, solicit, request, advise, or assist any other person to (a) undertake any action that would be reasonably likely, or is intended, to result in a reorganization, merger, share exchange, transfer of ownership of 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the Company, consolidation, or sale or disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or (b) seek to control or change the composition of the Board in any material manner. 
Section 6.06 Return of Property. Each Eligible Employee shall, upon the Eligible Employee’s Termination Date, return to the Company all property of the Company in the Eligible Employee’s possession, including all notes, reports, sketches, plans, published memoranda, or other documents, whether in hard copy or in electronic form, created, developed, generated, received, or held by the Eligible Employee during the Eligible Employee’s employment, concerning or related to the Company’s business, whether or not containing or relating to Proprietary Information. Each Eligible Employee shall not remove, by e-mail, by removal of computer discs or hard drives, or by other means, any of the above property containing Proprietary 

16

Information, or reproductions or copies thereof, or any apparatus from the Company’s premises without the Company’s written consent.
Section 6.07 Non-Disparagement. Each Eligible Employee shall agree to refrain from making any statements about the Company, its Subsidiaries or their officers or directors that would disparage, or reflect unfavorably upon the image or reputation of the Company, its Subsidiaries or any such officer or director.
Section 6.08 Assistance with Claims.
(a)     Each Eligible Employee shall agree, that, during and after the Eligible Employee’s employment by the Company, the Eligible Employee shall assist the Company, on a reasonable basis, in the defense of any claims or potential claims that may be made or threatened to be made against it in any action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (“Proceeding”) and shall assist the Company in the prosecution of any claims that may be made by the Company in any Proceeding, to the extent that such claims may relate to the Eligible Employee’s services.
(b)     Each Eligible Employee shall agree, unless precluded by law, to promptly inform the Company if the Eligible Employee is asked to participate (or otherwise become involved) in any Proceeding involving such claims or potential claims.
(c)     Each Eligible Employee shall also agree, unless precluded by law, to promptly inform the Company if the Eligible Employee is asked to assist in any investigation (whether governmental or private) of the Company or its Subsidiaries (or its actions), regardless of whether a lawsuit has then been filed against the Company or its Subsidiaries with respect to such investigation.
Section 6.09 Reasonableness. In the event that any of the provisions of this Article VI should ever be adjudicated to exceed the time, geographic, service, or other limitations permitted by applicable law in any jurisdiction, then such provisions shall be deemed reformed in such jurisdiction to the maximum time, geographic, service, or other limitations permitted by applicable law.
Section 6.10 Equitable Relief.
(a)     Each Eligible Employee shall acknowledge that the restrictions contained in this Article VI are reasonable and necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the Company, its Subsidiaries and its affiliates, that the Company would not have established this Plan in the absence of such restrictions, and that any violation of any provision of this Article VI will result in irreparable injury to the Company. Each Eligible Employee shall represent that his experience and capabilities are such that the restrictions contained in this Article VI will not prevent the Eligible Employee from obtaining employment or otherwise earning a living at the same general level of economic benefit as is currently the case. Each Eligible Employee shall further represent and acknowledge that (i) he has been advised by the Company to consult his own legal counsel in respect of this Plan, and (ii) that he has had full opportunity, prior to agreeing to participate in this Plan, to review thoroughly this Plan with his counsel.
(b)     Each Eligible Employee shall agree that the Company shall be entitled to preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, without the necessity of proving actual damages and without posting a bond or other security, as well as an equitable accounting of all earnings, profits and other benefits arising from any violation of this Article VI, which rights shall be cumulative and in addition to any other rights or remedies to which the Company may be entitled.

17

(c)     Each Eligible Employee shall also irrevocably and unconditionally consent to the service of any process, pleadings, notices or other papers in a manner permitted by the notice provisions of Section 10.04.
Section 6.11 Survival of Provisions.  The obligations contained in this Article VI shall survive the termination of each Eligible Employee’s employment with the Company and shall be fully enforceable thereafter.
ARTICLE VII
PLAN ADMINISTRATOR
Section 7.01 Authority and Duties.  The Company has established this Plan on behalf of Company.  The Company is the “Plan Sponsor” and the CenturyLink Employee Benefits Committee (the “EBC”) is the “Plan Administrator” (unless and to the extent that Plan Administrator duties have been otherwise delegated), as those terms are defined under ERISA.  In the absence of an EBC, the Company is the Plan Administrator.  As Plan Administrator, the EBC shall have primary responsibility for the operation and administration of the Plan, and this responsibility shall be delegated as designated in the Plan or as determined by the EBC.  To the extent of such delegation, the delegate shall be a “named fiduciary” of the Plan, as that term is defined in ERISA, and shall have all of the authority, discretion and powers of the Plan Administrator.  It shall be the duty of the Plan Administrator to properly administer the Plan.  The Plan Administrator shall have the full power, authority and discretion to construe, interpret and administer the Plan, to make factual determinations, to correct deficiencies therein, and to supply omissions.  The Plan Administrator may adopt such rules and regulations and may make such decisions as it deems necessary or desirable for the proper administration of the Plan.
As set forth in this Section, “administration” of this Plan does not include any decisions to amend or terminate all or any portion of the Plan, which functions are reserved to the Company in its capacity as Plan Sponsor and not in any fiduciary capacity.
Section 7.02 Compensation of the Plan Administrator.  The Plan Administrator shall receive no compensation for services as such.  However, all reasonable expenses of the Plan Administrator shall be paid or reimbursed by the Company upon proper documentation.  The Plan Administrator shall be indemnified by the Company against personal liability for actions taken in good faith in the discharge of the Plan Administrator’s duties.
Section 7.03 Records, Reporting and Disclosure.  The Plan Administrator shall keep a copy of all records relating to the payment of Severance Benefits to Participants and former Participants and all other records necessary for the proper operation of the Plan. All Plan records shall be made available to the Company and to each Eligible Employee for examination during business hours except that an Eligible Employee shall examine only such records as pertain exclusively to the examining Eligible Employee and to the Plan.  The Plan Administrator shall prepare and shall file as required by law or regulation all reports, forms, documents and other items required by ERISA, the Code, and every other relevant statute, each as amended, and all regulations thereunder (except that the Company, as payor of the Severance Benefits, shall prepare and distribute to the proper recipients all forms relating to withholding of income or wage taxes, Social Security taxes, and other amounts that may be similarly reportable).
Section 7.04 Discretion.  Any decisions, actions or interpretations to be made under the Plan by the Plan Administrator shall be made in its sole and absolute discretion, subject to the terms of the Plan and applicable law, and need not be uniformly applied and such decisions, actions or interpretations shall be final, binding and conclusive upon all parties, with respect to denied claims for Severance Benefits.  Not in limitation, but 

18

in amplification of the foregoing and of the authority conferred upon the Plan Administrator, the Plan Sponsor specifically intends that the Plan Administrator and its duly authorized delegates have the greatest permissible discretion to construe the terms of the Plan and to determine all questions concerning eligibility, participation, and benefits.   The decisions by the Plan Administrator or any delegates shall be conclusive and binding, and any interpretation, determination, or other action by them is intended to be subject to the most deferential standard of review.  Such standard of review is not to be affected by any real or alleged conflict of interest on the part of the Plan Administrator or its delegates. The EBC delegated its authority and discretion to review and grant or deny initial claims under the Plan to the Director, Human Resources, Policy, and this delegation has been accepted. In addition to the duties and powers described hereunder and elsewhere in this Plan, the Plan Administrator or its delegate is specifically given the discretionary authority and such powers as are necessary for the proper administration of the Plan, including, but not limited to, the following:
 to resolve ambiguities or inconsistencies, 
 to supply omissions and the like, 
 to make determinations, grants, or denials of the amount, manner, and time of payment of any Benefits under the terms of the Plan, 
to authorize its agents or delegates to execute or deliver any instrument or make payments on the Plan Administrator’s behalf or with respect to the Plan;
 to select and retain counsel, service providers, vendors, employ agents, and provide for such clerical, accounting, actuarial, legal, consulting and/or claims processing services as it deems necessary or desirable to assist the Plan Administrator in the administration of the Plan;
to prepare and distribute, in such manner as the Plan Administrator determines to be appropriate, summary plan descriptions and other information explaining the Plan;
 to receive from each Participating  Company and from Eligible Employees such information as shall be necessary for the proper administration of the Plan, and to require such information as a condition to receiving benefits under the Plan;
 to furnish the Company, upon request, such annual reports with respect to the administration of the Plan as the Plan Administrator deems reasonable and appropriate;
to receive, review and keep on file, as the Plan Administrator deems necessary or appropriate, reports of Plan payments and reports of disbursements for expenses; andd
in general to decide and /or settle questions and disputes, 
and all such authorizations, interpretations, determinations, decisions and settlements shall be final and binding for purposes of the Plan. 

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ARTICLE VIII
AMENDMENT, SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION
Section 8.01 Amendment, Suspension and Termination.
(a)     In General. Except as otherwise provided in this Article VIII, the Plan may be amended, suspended or terminated, without prior notice, in whole or in part at any time, with future or with retroactive effect, by a writing approved by Board of Directors and signed on behalf of  the Company by an authorized officer.  The Plan may also be amended in writing by the CenturyLink Plan Design Committee.  Amendment or termination of the Plan with respect to any  Subsidiary of the Company shall not affect the rights of any Eligible Employee to any Plan benefit to which such Eligible Employee may have become irrevocably entitled under the Plan prior to the date such amendment or termination is adopted.  On termination of the Plan, all rights to benefits end unless an Eligible Employee already has become entitled to such benefits.  The CenturyLink Plan Design Committee or the Vice President of Human Resources with responsibility for benefits, or their respective designee, have the authority to amend Exhibit C, “List of Participating Companies,” at any time and from time to time, including but not limited to, adding an entity as a Participating Company as such participation is approved by the CenturyLink Plan Design Committee.
(b)     Subsequent Amendments.  Any amendment, suspension or termination that adversely affects an Eligible Employee’s benefits and/or rights under the Plan shall not apply to an Eligible Employee covered under the Plan prior to the One Year Anniversary of the Closing of the CenturyLink - Qwest Transaction, if the amendment, suspension or termination is made without the Eligible Employee’s written consent (and before all payments and benefits hereunder are paid), except as may be otherwise required to comply with changes in applicable laws or regulations.
(c)     Prospective Operation of Amendments.  Any amendment, suspension or termination shall operate prospectively only and shall not impair an Eligible Employee’s right to retain any amount paid to him/her prior to the date of the amendment, suspension or termination (except as expressly provided herein) or cause the cessation of Severance Benefits after an Eligible Employee has executed a Release as required under Article III.
Section 8.02 Continuation of Plan.  Subject to Section 8.01, the Plan shall continue and shall be binding on the Company and its successors until the Company and/or its successors have fully performed all of the Company’s obligations under the Plan with respect to all Eligible Employees covered under the Plan as of the Effective Date.

ARTICLE IX
CLAIMS PROCEDURES
Section 9.01 Claims.  The Plan Administrator, in its sole discretion, shall determine eligibility for Severance Benefits and the amount of Severance Benefits, as well as the administration of Severance Benefits, in accordance with the terms of this Plan.  An Eligible Employee or his beneficiary, as applicable (the “claimant”) may contest such determinations by completing and filing with the Plan Administrator a written request for review in the manner specified by the Plan Administrator within 90 days following the Eligible Employee’s Termination Date.  Each such application must be supported by such information as the Plan Administrator 

20

deems relevant and appropriate.  The claimant may not bring an action for any alleged wrongful denial of Plan benefits in a court of law unless the claims and appeals procedures described in this Article IX are exhausted and a final determination has been made by the Plan Administrator or its delegate.  If the claimant challenges a decision by the Plan Administrator or its delegate, any review by a court of law will be limited to the facts, evidence and issues presented to the Plan Administrator during the claims procedure set forth in this Article IX.  Facts and evidence that become known to the claimant after such individual has exhausted the claims procedure must be brought to the attention of the Plan Administrator for reconsideration.  Issues not raised with the Plan Administrator will be deemed waived.
Section 9.02 Initial Claim.  In the event that any claim under Section 9.01 is denied in whole or in part, the claimant whose claim has been so denied shall be notified of such denial in writing by the Plan Administrator, or its delegate, within 90 days after the receipt of the claim for benefits.  This period may be extended an additional 90 days if the Plan Administrator, or its delegate, determines such extension is necessary and the Plan Administrator, or its delegate , provides notice of the extension to the claimant prior to the end of the initial 90-day period.  The notice advising of the denial shall: (i) specify the reason or reasons for denial, (ii) make specific reference to the Plan provisions on which the determination was based, (iii) describe any additional material or information necessary for the claimant to perfect the claim (explaining why such material or information is needed), and (iv) describe the Plan’s review procedures and the time limits applicable to such procedures, including a statement of the claimant’s right to bring a civil action under section 502(a) of ERISA following an adverse benefit determination on review.
Section 9.03 Appeals of Denied Administrative Claims.  All appeals of denied claims shall be made by the following procedure:
(a)     A claimant whose claim has been denied shall file with the Plan Administrator a written notice of appeal of the denial. Such notice shall be filed within 60 calendar days of receipt of notification by the Plan Administrator of the denial of a claim, shall be made in writing, and shall set forth all of the facts upon which the appeal is based. Appeals not timely filed shall be barred.
(b)     The Plan Administrator shall consider the merits of the claimant’s written presentations, the merits of any facts or evidence in support of the denial of benefits, and such other facts and circumstances as the Plan Administrator shall deem relevant.
(c)     The Plan Administrator shall render a determination upon the appealed claim which determination shall be accompanied by a written statement as to the reasons therefore.  The determination shall be made to the claimant within 60 days of the claimant’s request for review, unless the Plan Administrator determines that special circumstances require an extension of time for processing the claim.  In such case, the Plan Administrator shall notify the claimant of the need for an extension of time to render its decision prior to the end of the initial 60-day period, and the Plan Administrator shall have an additional 60-day period to make its determination.  The determination so rendered shall be binding upon all parties.  If the determination is adverse to the claimant, the notice shall: (i) provide the reason or reasons for denial, (ii) make specific reference to the Plan provisions on which the determination was based, (iii) state that the claimant is entitled to receive, upon request and free of charge, reasonable access to, and copies of, all documents, records and other information relevant to a the claimant’s claim for benefits, and (iv) state that the claimant has the right to bring a civil action under section 502(a) of ERISA.
Section 9.04 Deadline to Bring a Plan Claim, Arbitration or Civil Suit.     
(a) Claims regarding any Benefit under the Plan must be submitted in writing within six (6) months of the earlier of: 

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(i) the date a claimant has reason to believe that the Plan has not been properly administered or 
(ii) the date that a claimant did not receive a Plan benefit to which he believes he was entitled. 

(b) Plan claims and appeals procedures as explained, above must be completely and timely exhausted by a claimant/Participant.  A civil lawsuit, arbitration or other proceeding must be filed not later than one (1) year after the exhaustion of these internal Plan remedies as described in this Article IX. 

ARTICLE X
MISCELLANEOUS
Section 10.01 Waiver of Jury Trial.
(a)     The Company waives and each Employee upon becoming an Eligible Employee in the Plan shall waive his, her or its right to a jury trial in any court action arising under the Plan or otherwise and whether made by claim, counter-claim, third-party claim or otherwise.
(b)     If for any reason the jury waiver is held to be unenforceable, but only in that event, the Eligible Employee and the Company agree to binding arbitration for any dispute arising out of this Plan or any claim arising under any federal, state or local statutes, laws or regulations, pursuant to the arbitration terms set forth on attached Exhibit B.
(c)     The agreement of the Eligible Employee to waive his right to a jury trial will be binding on his beneficiaries or assigns and will survive the termination of this Plan.
Section 10.02 Forum Selection.  Any court proceeding brought by an Eligible Employee or the Company must be brought, as appropriate, in a Colorado state court located in Denver, Colorado, or in the United States District Court in Denver, Colorado.  Each party agrees to personal jurisdiction in either court.
Section 10.03 Non-Alienation of Benefits.  None of the payments, benefits or rights of any Participant shall be subject to any claim of any creditor of any Participant, and, in particular, to the fullest extent permitted by law, all such payments, benefits and rights shall be free from attachment, garnishment (if permitted under applicable law), trustee’s process, or any other legal or equitable process available to any creditor of such Participant. No Eligible Employee shall have the right to alienate, anticipate, commute, plead, encumber or assign any of the benefits or payments that he may expect to receive, continently or otherwise, under this Plan, except for the designation of a beneficiary.
Section 10.04 Notices.  All notices and other communications required hereunder shall be in writing and shall be delivered personally or mailed by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or by overnight express courier service. In the case of the Eligible Employee, mailed notices shall be addressed to him or her at the home address which he most recently communicated to the Company in writing. In the case of the Company, mailed notices shall be addressed to the Plan Administrator.
Section 10.05 No Mitigation.  Eligible Employees shall not be required to mitigate the amount of any Severance Benefit provided for in this Plan by seeking other employment or otherwise, nor shall the amount of any Severance Benefit provided for herein be reduced by any compensation earned by other employment 

22

or otherwise, except if the Eligible Employee is re-employed by the Company, in which case Severance Benefits shall cease.
Section 10.06 No Contract of Employment.  Neither the establishment of the Plan, nor any modification thereof, nor the creation of any fund, trust or account, nor the payment of any benefits shall be construed as giving any Eligible Employee or any person whosoever, the right to be retained in the service of the Company, and all Eligible Employees shall remain at-will employees, subject to discharge to the same extent as if the Plan had never been adopted.
Section 10.07 Severability of Provisions.  Except to the extent provided in Section 6.09, if any provision of this Plan shall be held invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, as to such jurisdiction that provision shall be limited (“blue penciled”) to the minimum extent necessary so that this Plan shall otherwise remain enforceable in full force and effect.  To the extent such provision cannot be so modified, the offending provision shall, as to such jurisdiction, be deemed severable from the remainder of this Agreement, and the remaining provisions contained in this Agreement shall be construed to preserve to the maximum permissible extent the intent and purposes of this Agreement.  
Section 10.08 Unfunded Plan.  The Plan shall not be funded.  No Participant shall have any right to, or interest in, any assets of the Company that may be applied by the Company to the payment of Severance Benefits.  Payments of Severance Benefits under the Plan shall be paid from the Company’s general assets, in accordance with the terms of the Plan.
Section 10.09 Payments to Incompetent Persons.  Any benefit payable to or for the benefit of a minor, an incompetent person or other person incapable of receipting therefore shall be deemed paid when paid to such person’s guardian or to the party providing or reasonably appearing to provide for the care of such person, and such payment shall fully discharge the Company, the Plan Administrator and all other parties with respect thereto.
Section 10.10 Lost Payees.  A benefit shall be deemed forfeited if the Committee is unable to locate an Eligible Employee to whom a Severance Benefit is due.  Such Severance Benefit shall be reinstated if application is made by the Eligible Employee for the forfeited Severance Benefit while this Plan is in operation.
Section 10.11 Controlling Law.  This Plan shall be construed and enforced according to the laws of the State of Colorado to the extent not superseded by Federal law.
Executed this __ day of August, 2014.
CENTURYLINK, INC.

By:  ___________________________
Scott A. Trezise, Chair, CenturyLink Plan Design Committee
Title:     Executive. Vice President, Human Resources

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EXHIBIT A
Form of Release Agreement 
subject to change by the Plan Administrator from time to time
CONFIDENTIAL SEPARATION AGREEMENT
AND RELEASE IN FULL OF ALL CLAIMS
For Employees Age 40 or Over
Employee Name:
Employee ID:
Work City, State:
Notice to Employee:  You should discuss this Confidential Separation Agreement with an attorney prior to signing it.  In any event, you should thoroughly review and understand the effect of this document before acting upon it.  Therefore, please take this Confidential Separation Agreement home and carefully consider it before you decide whether to sign it.  You have 45 calendar days from the date of receipt of this Confidential Separation Agreement in which to decide whether to sign and return it.  
Capitalized words and phrases used in this document but not defined in this document will be as defined in the CenturyLink Executive Severance Plan (the “Plan”). 
This Confidential Separation Agreement and Release in Full of All Claims (“Agreement”) is made by and between 
<Name>    (hereinafter referred to as “Employee”)   
AND 
CenturyLink, including for the purposes of this Agreement, its parent, affiliates (including, without limitation, EMBARQ Corporation and its subsidiary and affiliate companies), subsidiaries, predecessors, successors, assigns, management companies or any related or parent organizations or entities of which it is or becomes a part, as well as the foregoing entities’ respective shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents, employee benefit plans, successors and assigns (collectively, “Employer”).
1.    Intent to Resolve all Claims.  In connection with Employee’s separation and termination of employment with Employer at the close of business on <LDW>, Employer and Employee desire to settle and compromise fully and finally all differences between them, including, but not limited to, all claims Employee has or might have asserted against Employer arising out of the employment with Employer or termination of that employment.
2.    Severance Pay.  Employee is entitled to Severance Benefits Payment in accordance with the terms of the Plan, provided all the following have occurred:  (1) Employee’s employment has Terminated, (2) Employee has signed this Agreement on or after his/her last day of work and has returned it to Employer at the address provided in the notification letter, (3) the revocation period described in paragraph 20 has expired and Employee has not revoked the Agreement, and (4) Employee has complied in full with the terms 

24

of this Agreement, including but not limited to paragraphs 9 and 10.  Employer agrees to pay Employee the gross sum of $<Amount> less withholdings, as severance pay, 60 days after the Employees separation from employment, in accordance with the terms of the Plan.  In addition, Employee is entitled to outplacement assistance in accordance with Section 4.03 of the Plan.
3.    Payment in Full of All Compensation and Benefits.  Employee hereby expressly acknowledges and agrees that (a) Employee has been paid for all work performed and (b) Employee is not entitled to any additional payment of wages (including overtime), compensation, leave, or benefit of any kind from Employer as of the date of separation, except for accrued and unpaid PTO, applicable prorated bonus program payment, if eligible, and additional severance pay payable under the terms of this Agreement.  Payments for accrued and unpaid PTO, applicable prorated bonus and severance payments will be made per the provisions described in the separation package that was provided to Employee.
4.    Termination of Group Health Insurance/Continuation Coverage.  Subject to applicable laws, Employee and dependent group health (medical, prescription, dental and vision) insurance coverage, if any, will end on <Benefit End Date>.  Employer will provide, in accordance with applicable laws and plan documents, notice of any rights to continue, convert, or obtain (a) replacement health coverage at Employee’s own expense, and (b) replacement coverage for any disability and life insurance coverage in effect prior to Employee’s separation from employment.  Employer will provide Employee, if eligible, the COBRA subsidy under Section 4.03 of the Plan.
5.    Full and Complete Waiver and Release.  Employee hereby accepts Employer’s payment of Severance Benefits in accordance with the requirements of Article V of the Plan and promises in this Agreement in full settlement and satisfaction of all grievances, claims, actions and lawsuits of every nature and kind whatsoever, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, past, present or future, in any way related to or arising from the employment relationship between Employer and Employee or the termination of that relationship, which Employee has or might have asserted against Employer in the future.  
Employee releases, acquits, and forever discharges Employer, and each of its individual directors, officers, employees, agents and insurers, and their successors, and all other persons who might be claimed to be liable, to the fullest extent allowed by law, of and from any and all grievances, claims, actions and lawsuits arising out of or related to Employee’s employment with Employer or the termination of that employment, other than as expressly excepted in paragraph 6.  Although (as noted in paragraph 6) this Agreement does not limit Employee’s right to file a charge with an administrative agency or participate in an agency investigation, Employee waives the right to recover money in connection with any charge or investigation by any agency, regardless of whether Employee or someone else initiated that charge or investigation.  Employee hereby assigns to Employer all rights to such compensation, if any, in consideration of the payments received under this Agreement.
This release includes to the fullest extent allowed by law, but is not limited to, any and all claims, grievances, actions or lawsuits in any forum, which have been, might have been, or in the future might be asserted by Employee and/or on behalf of Employee, under local, state and federal laws, administrative regulations, Executive Orders, and wage payment or equal employment opportunity legislation such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 USC § 78d-3); the Civil Rights Acts of 1866, 1870, 1871, and 1991; 42 U.S.C. § 1981, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Labor Management Relations Act; the National Labor Relations Act; the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, 23 U.S.C. § 2101, including WARN Act claims that may arise after the date on which this Agreement became effective, and Executive Order 11246, all as amended.  This release also includes, to the fullest extent allowed by law, 

25

any and all state or common-law claims, including whistleblower, retaliation, tort and wrongful discharge claims; contract claims, including express or implied contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and claims for attorneys’ fees.
6.    Exceptions to the Release.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, nothing in this Agreement will waive, release, modify, or otherwise affect any of Employee’s accrued and vested rights under existing pension and profit-sharing plans, such as claims for vested benefits, or under state workers’ compensation and unemployment laws.  This Agreement is not intended to change or modify any provision of any benefit plan governed by ERISA.  With the exception of claims under the WARN Act, this Agreement does not govern claims or rights based on events that may occur after the date of this Agreement.  Also excluded from this Agreement is your right to file a charge with an administrative agency, participate in an agency investigation and to file an unfair labor practice charge.  You are, however, waiving all rights to recover money in connection with any such charge, investigation or related lawsuit.  
7.    No Pending Claims.  Employee represents that no complaints, grievances, or claims related to Employee’s employment with Employer or termination of that employment that are pending or filed against Employer, including any such grievances, claims, or charges filed or pending with any local, state, or federal agency or court as of the date this Agreement was signed 
8.    No Admission of Liability.  Nothing in this Agreement shall be interpreted as an admission of liability as to any of the complaints, claims, or lawsuits that it releases.  Employer and each of its individual directors, officers, employees, agents and insurers, and their successors, individually and collectively, expressly deny any such liability.
9.    Agreement to be Bound by Restrictive Covenants in Executive Severance Plan.  Employee agrees to abide by all Restrictive Covenants and promises set forth in Sections 6.01 (Code of Conduct), 6.02 (Proprietary Information), 6.03 (Non-Competition), 6.04 (Inducement of Employees, Customers and Others), 6.05 (No Adverse Actions), 6.06 (Return of Property), 6.07 (Non-Disparagement) and 6.08 (Assistance with Claims) of the Plan, the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference.  Employee acknowledges that he has received a copy of the Plan and has read and understands Sections 6.01 through 6.08 of the Plan.  Employee understands that if Employee breaches the provisions of Sections 6.01 through 6.08, Employer is entitled to recover the relief specified in Section 6.10 of the Plan, including any and all damages caused by such breach. 
10.    Confidentiality of Agreement.  With the exception of necessary communications to taxing authorities, accountants, and attorneys; communications to immediate family members who reside with Employee; and any communications required by law, Employee agrees and covenants that the terms, amounts, and fact of this Agreement shall be kept strictly confidential.  Employee further agrees not in any way (directly or indirectly) to communicate or disclose, or participate in the communication or disclosure, of any of that information to others (except as may be necessary to enforce the rights contained in this Agreement in an appropriate legal proceeding); including any of Employer’s past, present, or future employees or customers, and further agrees and covenants that the same restrictions shall apply with respect to representatives of the media.  
11.    Property of Employee and Employer.  Employee has possession of all of Employee’s personal property that was on Employer’s premises.
12.    Repayment Requirements - Employees rehired by CenturyLink before the expiration of the period covered by their separation allowance will be required to repay all or part of the allowance. The repayment amount will be determined by subtracting the number of days in layoff status from the separation 

26

allowance applicable to the number of days included in the separation allowance calculation.  The difference is the amount to be repaid.
13.    Choice of Venue, Jury Trial and Class Action Damage Waiver.  Venue for litigating any claims under this Agreement is proper in the court for the Federal District Court for Colorado, and Employee expressly consents to the jurisdiction of such court.  Employee expressly waives and relinquishes the right to a trial before a jury in any action, brought in any court, concerning this Agreement or any other claim against Employer.  Employee also expressly waives the right to collect money damages in any class or collective action against Employer.
14.    Severability.  To the extent that any provisions in this Agreement are deemed illegal and/or unenforceable, the parties agree that this Agreement shall be interpreted so that all other obligations and protections established by it are enforceable. 
15.    Controlling Law.  Except as governed by federal law, this Agreement will be governed by the laws of [ Colorado or the state where Employee last worked for Employer ]. 
16.    Final, Binding and Entire Agreement.  This Agreement contains the entire agreement and understanding between the parties related to its subject matter, and supersedes and replaces all prior negotiations and understandings, written or oral, express or implied, concerning that subject matter.  This Agreement may be amended only by a written document signed by the parties which specifically states that it was intended as an amendment. 
17.    Acknowledgements.  You acknowledge and agree that the severance pay described in paragraph 2 of this Agreement is in addition to whatever you already are entitled to receive apart from this Agreement.  You also acknowledge that Employer provided to you, as Exhibit B to the “Waiver of Rights or Claims” letter, a list setting forth:  the class, unit or group of individuals covered by this separation or exit incentive program; any eligibility factors for such program; the job titles and ages of all individuals in the same decisional unit eligible or selected for the program; and the ages of all individuals in the same job classification or decisional unit who were not eligible or selected for the program.  
18.    WARN.  If Employer paid any payments under WARN, Employee agrees and acknowledges that the method used to determine the rate of pay and benefits is reasonable and fairly compensates Employee for the sixty‐day WARN Act period.  In addition, Employee agrees and acknowledges that the separation pay is a voluntary and unconditional payment from Employer, which Employer is not legally obliged to provide unless you sign this Agreement, and such pay is sufficient and adequate consideration for your release of any WARN Act claims that you may have either now or in the future as a result of your termination of employment.

27

19.     Consideration and Revocation Periods.  Employee hereby acknowledges having been allowed at least forty-five (45) days to consider this Agreement and that if the Agreement is signed sooner, such decision is entirely voluntary.  Employee has been advised in writing by Employer to consult an attorney prior to signing this Agreement and to ask the attorney to review and explain this Agreement.  Employee has thoroughly reviewed this Agreement and understands this Agreement and the effect of it.  Employee understands that Employee may revoke this Agreement for a period of seven (7) days after signing it, and that the Agreement will not become effective or enforceable until the seven-day period has expired without such revocation.  

	
		
	LEGAL NAME
(For Employee Use Only)

Employee Signature

Employee Name (Printed) 

Date of Signature 
	For ORGANIZATION NAME
(For HR Use Only)

Human Resource Signature

Human Resource Title 

Date of Signature

28

EXHIBIT B
Arbitration Provision
Any arbitration will be held in the Monroe, Louisiana area (or such other location as may be mutually agreed upon by the Company and the Eligible Employee) and be subject to the Governing Law provision of this Plan and in accordance with the National Rules for the Resolution of Employment Disputes then in effect of the American Arbitration Association, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., before a panel of three arbitrators, two of whom shall be selected by the Company and the Eligible Employee, respectively, and the third of whom shall be selected by the other two arbitrators.  Discovery in the arbitration will be governed by the Local Rules applicable in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.  Any award entered by the arbitrators shall be final, binding and non-appealable and judgment may be entered thereon by either party in accordance with applicable law in any court of competent jurisdiction.  This arbitration provision shall be specifically enforceable.  The arbitrators shall have no authority to modify any provision of this Plan or to award a remedy for a dispute involving this Plan other than a benefit specifically provided under or by virtue of the Plan.  Each party shall be responsible for its own expenses relating to the conduct of the arbitration (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses) and shall share the fees of the American Arbitration Association and the arbitrators.

29

CenturyLink Executive Severance Plan
As Amended and Restated Effective July 1, 2014
EXHIBIT C

List of Participating Companies
CenturyLink, Inc. and its Subsidiaries and affiliates as of November 15, 2013 (including subsidiaries and affiliates of Embarq Corporation, Qwest Communications International, Inc. and Savvis, Inc.), with the exception of: 
► CenturyLink Marketing Solutions, LLC.
                ►Tier 3, Inc., a subsidiary of Savvis, Inc., which shall become a Participating Company in the Plan as follows:
• Solely with respect to employees hired by it on or after November 18, 2013, Tier 3 shall be a Participating Company as of November 18, 2013.
• With respect to all employees who were employees of Tier 3 as of November 18, 2013, Tier 3 shall become a Participating Company effective November 18, 2016.

The CenturyLink Plan Design Committee or the Vice President of Human Resources with responsibility for benefits, or their respective designee, have the authority to amend Exhibit C at any time and from time to time, including but not limited to, adding an entity as a Participating Company as such participation is approved by the CenturyLink Plan Design Committee. 

30

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