CenturyTel reported solid second-quarter earnings today as the rural service provider’s acquisition of Madison River Communications positively impacted revenues and access line and Internet user numbers.

The company saw operating revenues increase 13.3% to $690 million compared to its Q2 2006 figures. CenturyTel also increased its access lines to 2,205,000, and its high-speed Internet customers rose to more than 500,000. (Both figures include the Madison River acquisition.)

CenturyTel acquired Madison River on April 30, giving the company a pathway to new customers in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and North Carolina.

The company did experience a dip in diluted earnings per share, which were $1 in the second quarter compared to $1.26 a year ago, and in net income as CenturyTel reported $112.3 million compared to $152.2 in Q2 2006.

Operating cash flow, excluding non-recurring items, was up 4.7% to $311.2 million in the second quarter.

“We have done some automation workforce management,” said Stewart Ewing, executive vice president and chief financial officer for CenturyTel, in a conference call. “Our middle management people—our employees overall—are doing a great job to reduce costs.”

CenturyTel is projecting revenues of $690 million to $700 million for the third quarter, as well as diluted earnings per share of $0.87 to $0.92.

“I think we’re more comfortable now that we’re going to come in under budget for the back half of the year,” said Ewing. “Our Internet base is growing faster than we originally expected.”