CenturyTel, Inc.


                                November 14, 2002


VIA EDGAR TRANSMISSION

Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20549

         Re:   CenturyTel, Inc.
               Certification of Contents of Form 10-Q for the period
               ending September 30, 2002, pursuant to Section 906 of
               the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Ladies and Gentlemen:

         CenturyTel, Inc. (the "Company") filed today, via EDGAR, its quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the period ending September 30, 2002. The undersigned,
who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certifies that the Form 10-Q
fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, and that the information contained in the Form 10-Q fairly
presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of
operations of the Company for the period covered by such report.

         This certification is being furnished solely to comply with the
requirements of Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
Pub.L. No. 107-204, and is not being filed as a part of, or as an exhibit to,
the Form 10-Q, or as a separate disclosure document.

                                             Very truly yours,


                                              /s/ Glen F. Post, III
                                             -------------------------------
                                                  Glen F. Post, III
                                             Chairman of the Board of Directors
                                                and Chief Executive Officer