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Commonwealth Telephone Company Achieves Lowest Justified Complaint Rate in Annual Pennsylvania PUC Report for Ninth Consecutive Year

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 December 2006, 09:00 CST

Commonwealth Telephone Company, a business unit of Dallas, PA-based Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, Inc. ("CTE") (Nasdaq:CTCO), announced today that it has achieved the lowest justified complaint rate in the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's ("PUC") recently released 2005 annual report, "Utility Consumer Activities Report and Evaluation." Commonwealth Telephone Company has achieved the lowest level of justified complaints in this annual PUC report for nine consecutive years, and fifteen of the last seventeen years.

The PUC annual report details the justified complaint rate of Pennsylvania's five largest local exchange carriers, as well as the state's four largest competitive local exchange carriers. The PUC's 2005 annual report compared Commonwealth Telephone Company's results to Alltel Pennsylvania, Inc., United Telephone Company of Pennsylvania d/b/a Sprint, Verizon North, Inc. (formerly GTE North, Inc.), and Verizon Pennsylvania, Inc. (formerly Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania, Inc.), as well as the competitive local exchange carriers AT&T Local; Comcast Phone of Pennsylvania, LLC d/b/a Comcast Digital Phone; MCImetro Access Transmission Services, LLC (MCI Local); and RCN Telecom Services, Inc. (RCN).

"For more than 109 years, the employees of Commonwealth Telephone have been committed to providing outstanding customer service. They, along with their colleagues in CTE's family of businesses, are to be commended for their dedication to ensuring customer satisfaction," said Michael J. Mahoney, president and chief executive officer of CTE (parent company of Commonwealth Telephone Company).

"While it is noteworthy to achieve the lowest justified complaint rate in any given year, to achieve it for nine straight years is exceptional and a tribute to the incredible commitment of our employees," stated Eileen O'Neill Odum, executive vice president and chief operating officer, CTE. "On behalf of all of CTE's senior management team, I take this opportunity to thank and congratulate our employees," she added.

The Pennsylvania PUC annually produces this report, which measures customer service performance by all major utilities -- including electrical, gas, water and telephone -- in an effort to inform consumers on how well utilities are meeting their needs. Utility performance is based on residential consumer complaint rates, response time to these complaints, and other measurements. The Pennsylvania PUC can be found on the Internet at www.puc.state.pa.us.

About CTE

Headquartered in Dallas, PA, Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, Inc., serves business and residential customers with a full array of technologically advanced data and voice telecommunications products and services, including broadband data services and high-speed Internet access, delivered over its 100% digitally switched, fiber-rich network.

CTE's primary operating segments are: Commonwealth Telephone Company ("CT"), the nation's seventh largest publicly held independent local exchange carrier, which has been operating in various rural Pennsylvania markets since 1897; and, CTSI, LLC ("CTSI"), a local exchange carrier operating in competitive markets outside CT's territory, that formally commenced operations in 1997. CTE deploys broadband DSL technology to offer high-speed Internet access in the CT and CTSI service territories. CTE's support businesses include epix® Internet Services (www.epix.net), a rural dial-up Internet service provider ("ISP"), and Commonwealth Communications, a provider of telecommunications equipment and facilities management services.

A web site featuring current information regarding Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises, Inc., can be found on the Internet at www.ct-enterprises.com. However, the information on this web site does not form a part of this release.

Source: Business Wire

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