Ownership Submission
FORM 4
Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
STOREY JEFFREY K
   2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
CENTURYLINK, INC [CTL] 		5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
__X__ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
President & COO
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O CENTURYLINK, INC., 100 CENTURYLINK DRIVE		 3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
11/01/2017
(Street)

MONROE, LA 71203		 4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 3)		 2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 3. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)		 4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		 5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 3 and 4)		 6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)		 7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)
Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price
Common Stock 11/01/2017   A   846,264 A (1) 846,264 D  
Common Stock 11/01/2017   A   1,038,814 A (2) 1,885,078 D  
Common Stock 11/01/2017   A(3)   542,590 A $ 0 2,427,668 D  
Common Stock 11/01/2017   A   4,722 A (1) 4,722 I By 401(k)

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Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 3)		 2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 4. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)		 5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4, and 5)		 6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities
(Instr. 3 and 4)		 8. Price of Derivative Security
(Instr. 5)		 9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 4)		 10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)		 11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)
Code V (A) (D) Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
 Director  10% Owner  Officer  Other
STOREY JEFFREY K
C/O CENTURYLINK, INC.
100 CENTURYLINK DRIVE
MONROE, LA 71203		   X     President & COO  

Signatures

 /s/ Hope M. Spencer as Attorney-in-Fact for Jeffrey K. Storey   11/03/2017
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) On November 1, 2017, the Issuer acquired Level 3 Communications, Inc. ("Level 3" and such acquisition, the "Merger") pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") by and among the Issuer, Level 3, Wildcat Merger Sub I LLC and WWG Merger Sub LLC. Upon the Effective Time (as defined in the Merger Agreement), each outstanding Level 3 common share held by the Reporting Person was converted into the right to receive (a) $26.50 in cash, without interest, and (b) 1.4286 shares of the Issuer's common stock, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares.
(2) Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time, each outstanding Level 3 restricted stock unit award held by the Reporting Person was converted into a restricted stock unit award (the "RSUs") relating to a number of shares of the Issuer's common stock (rounded up to the nearest whole share) equal to the product of (a) 2.8386 (the Equity Award Exchange Ratio, calculated as provided in the Merger Agreement) multiplied by (b) the number of Level 3 common shares subject to the award immediately prior to the Effective Time. Pursuant to an agreement between the Issuer and the Reporting Person, 875,432 of the RSUs were fully vested immediately following the Merger, although they will continue pay out in accordance with their original payout schedule.
(3) Represents a grant of restricted stock (40% time-based and 60% performance-based) that will vest on February 1, 2019, with payout on the performance-based portion ranging between 0-200% depending upon the extent to which the performance metric is achieved.

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