Document:

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                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.8.1

                The First Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This First Amendment dated  October 8, 1996  is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC  ("Holdings") and Paul H. Sunu, ("Executive") pursuant to
paragraph 11 of the Employment Agreement between Holdings and Executive dated
June 4, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

1.   The last sentence of Section 3.4 of the Employment Agreement shall be
     amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

          "Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary (except for
          (i) the legal fees referred to in Section 8 hereof which shall not
          require further approval and (ii) the costs of the directors and
          officers insurance referred to in Section 13 (b) hereof and other
          insurance (including property and casualty) which is reasonably deemed
          necessary by Executive and is approved by the Board (which approval
          shall not be unreasonably withheld)), prior to the First Acquisition
          Closing Date, Executive is authorized to incur, and shall be
          reimbursed, only for items approved by all of the Institutional
          Investors (as defined in the LOI) (it being understood that the
          listing of such costs in a budget attached to the LOI that has been
          approved by all of the Institutional Investors constitutes approval by
          all Institutional Investors)."

2.   Section 5.5 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended and restated in
     its entirety to read a follows:

          "5.5 Restrictions on Transfer of Incentive Equity. Other than pursuant
               --------------------------------------------
          to Tag-Along Rights, Registration Rights, and Other Exit Rights with
          respect to his vested Incentive Equity (as such terms are defined in
          the LOI and as such concepts may be incorporated in the agreements
          referred to in Section 5.4), Executive may not transfer his Incentive
          Equity at any time (other than transfers of Incentive Equity for
          estate-planning purposes to immediate family members and trusts and/or
          other vehicles for the benefit of immediate family members) without
          the approval of members of the Board holding a majority of the votes
          of all members of the Board who do not have a pecuniary interest in
          such transfer, which majority shall include approval by members of the
          Board holding a majority of the votes of all of the members of the
          Board designated by the Institutional Investors."

3.   Section 6.1(b)(i) of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by adding
     the following parenthetical to the end of such Section 6.1 (b) (i):

          "(and not cured after 15 days prior notice to all of the members of
          the Board)."

4.   Section 6.5 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended and restated to
     read as follows:

          "6.5 Termination Prior to First Acquisition Closing Date.
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          Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, in the
          event that the enterprise contemplated by the LOI is abandoned or
          otherwise terminated in accordance with the terms of the LOI prior to
          the First Acquisition Closing Date (such date being referred to herein
          as the "LOI Termination Date"), then Executive shall not be entitled
          to any amounts pursuant to Section 3 (other than accrued and unpaid
          amounts
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          through the LOI Termination Date pursuant to Section 3.4), Section 4
          or this Section 6, other than salary and benefits accrued but unpaid
          as of the LOI Termination Date."

5.   The last sentence of Section 14 of the Employment Agreement shall be
     amended and restated to read as follows:

          "Prior to all of the Institutional Investors becoming a party to the
          LLC Agreement, (i) all references to an action, decision,
          determination or approval of the Board shall only be made with the
          prior consent of all of the Institutional Investors and (ii) all of
          the Institutional Investors shall be a third party beneficiary under
          this Agreement."

All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this First Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by:     J. STEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                             ----------------------------

                                   PAUL H. SUNU
                         --------------------------------
                         Executive<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.8.2

               The Second Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This Second Amendment dated  January 24, 1997  is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC  ("Holdings") and Paul H. Sunu, ("Executive") pursuant to
paragraph 11 of the Employment Agreement between Holdings and Executive dated
April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

1.   Section 3.1 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by adding the
     following paragraph 3.11:

          "Beginning May 1, 1997 and continuing until the closing of the
          Company's First Acquisition Closing Date, Executive shall accrue but
          not vest in any base salary compensation. Executive shall accrue his
          unvested base salary compensation at the rate of $8,333.33 per month
          for full months and pro-rata amount for partial months. Executive
          shall vest in his accrued base salary compensation on the First
          Acquisition Closing Date. In the event there is no first acquisition
          of a business in any form by the Company or the enterprise
          contemplated in the LOI is abandoned or terminated, Executive will not
          vest in his accrued base salary compensation and Holdings shall not
          owe any base salary compensation to Executive and the Executive shall
          have no claims for any base salary compensation against Holdings.
          Beginning after the First Acquisition Date, Holdings shall pay
          Executive a base salary ("Base Salary") at the annual rate of $100,000
          under paragraph 3.1 above unless adjusted under paragraph 3.2."

2.   Section 7.0 is amended to reflect the new address for Executive:

          Paul H. Sunu

All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this Second Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by:  J. STEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                            ----------------------------

                              PAUL H. SUNU
                         -------------------------------
                         Executive<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.8.3

                The Third Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This Third Amendment dated  October 16, 1997  is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC  ("Holdings") and Paul H. Sunu, ("Executive") pursuant to
paragraph 11 of the Employment Agreement between Holdings and Executive dated
April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

1.   Section 3.1 of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by inserting the
     following after the first full sentence:

          "Notwithstanding the foregoing, the closing of MebCom Communications,
          Inc. shall not be considered the first acquisition and its closing
          date shall not be considered the First Acquisition Closing Date for
          purposes of paragraph 2 (Term of Employment), this paragraph 3
          (Compensation) and paragraph 6 (Termination of Employment)."

2.   Section 8, third sentence shall be amended by replacing the place of
     arbitration submission from "Chicago, Illinois" to "Raleigh-Durham
     metropolitan area of North Carolina" and by replacing the language "in
     accordance with Illinois law" with "in accordance with Delaware law".

All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this Second Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                         Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                         by:  J. STEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                            --------------------------

                              PAUL H. SUNU
                         -----------------------------
                         Executive<PAGE>

                                                                  EXHIBIT 10.8.4

                 Fourth Amendment to the Employment Agreement

This Fourth Amendment dated September 15, 1999 is made between Madison River
Telephone Company, LLC ("Holdings") and Paul H. Sunu, ("Executive") pursuant to
paragraph 11 of that certain agreement for employment between Holdings and
Executive dated April 17, 1996 ("Employment Agreement").

Section 5.1 and 5.3(b) of the Employment Agreement shall be amended by replacing
said sections with the following:

5.1  Purchase Rights; Vesting.
     ------------------------
(a)  As of the date hereof, Executive shall have the right to purchase at any
time from Holdings Class B equity of Holdings equal to 10% of the total Class B
equity  of Holdings for an aggregate purchase price of $1,000 and Class C equity
of Holdings equal to 11.50% of the total Class C equity of Holdings for an
aggregate purchase price of $1,150.  Hereafter, Class B and Class C equity
collectively shall be referred to as "Incentive Equity").  Within 30 days after
each time that Executive exercises its right to purchase Incentive Equity, the
Executive will make an effective election with the Internal Revenue Service
under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations promulgated
thereunder.  The parties hereto agree that the fair market value of the
Incentive Equity allocated to Executive as of the initial Employment Agreement
date is $1,000 for Class B and as of the Gulf Closing Date for Class C and for a
period of at least five business days thereafter is $1,150 and that parties
shall use  such value for all Federal income tax purposes.

(b)  Twenty percent (20%) of Executive's Incentive Equity will vest on the First
Acquisition Closing Date and, provided that (except in the case of vesting
pursuant to Section 5.3(a)) Executive is still employed by Holdings, the
remainder on a daily basis over a four-year period beginning with the First
Acquisition Closing Date and ending with the Closing Date  for Gulf Coast
Services, Inc.  ("Gulf Closing Date") and any unvested remainder after the Gulf
Closing Date shall vest on a daily basis over a new four-year period beginning
with the Gulf Closing Date.  All unvested Incentive Equity will become fully
vested immediately prior to the occurrence of a Liquidity Event.  "Liquidity
Event" means (i) any sale of all or substantially all of the assets of Holdings
on a consolidated basis in one transaction or series of related transactions
(but excluding sales to affiliates) for cash or marketable securities, (ii) any
sale of 50% or more of the Investor Equity (as defined in the LOI) in one
transaction or series of related transactions (but excluding sales to affiliates
and, with respect to individuals, related persons) for cash or marketable
securities or (iii) a merger, share exchange or similar transaction which
accomplishes one of the foregoing.

     5.3  Repurchase.
          ----------

(b)  Executive's vested Incentive Equity will not be subject to repurchase in
whole or in part by Holdings.
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  All other provisions of the Employment Agreement remain in full force and
effect.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Executive and Holdings have caused this Fourth Amendment to
the Employment Agreement to be executed as of the date first written above.

                                        Madison River Telephone Company, LLC

                                        by:    J. STEPHEN VANDERWOUDE
                                           ---------------------------------

                                               PAUL H. SUNU
                                        ------------------------------------
                                        Executive

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