CenturyTel of the Gem State acquired by Century Telephone. Following this acquisition, Century Telephone launched its rebranding as "CenturyTel" and changed the name of the holding company Pacific Telecom to CenturyTel of the Northwest. Gem State Utilities then changed its name to CenturyTel of the Gem State, Inc. CenturyTel of the Gem State CenturyTel of the Gem State, Inc. is a telephone operating company providing local telephone services in Idaho and northern Nevada owned by CenturyLink. The company was established in 1901 as the Gem State Utilities Corporation. The company was acquired by Telephone Utilities in 1966 as the first company TU would acquire to
SS Gem State (T-ACS-2) with American President Lines. She was converted to a MARAD type (C6-S-1qc) container ship, in 1973, and continued to be operated by APL until delivered to the Maritime Administration in 1982 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). In 1984–1985 she was converted to a type (C6-S-MA1qd) Crane Ship by Continental Marine, San Francisco, CA. She was placed in service as SS "Gem State" (ACS-2) 7 May 1984, assigned to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Ready Reserve Force, (RRF). "Gem State" is one of 10 Crane Ships in the Surge Force and is berthed at Alameda, CA,