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Cingular Wireless Invites America to 'Take a Shot' at Raising the Bar and Winning $50,000 Award-Winning Photographer Robert Clark to Judge Best "Five Bar" Image Submissions for "Raising the Bar" Photo Contest and Sweepstakes ATLANTA, July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Since Cingular Wireless introduced the now-famous blue signal bars into its 'Raising the Bar' advertising campaign, people across the country are seeing more bars in more places -- and not just on their wireless phones. As a result, today Cingular Wireless, along with Sony Ericsson and acclaimed photographer Robert Clark, invite customers to submit photos of "five bars" images as seen in their daily lives, for a chance to win a Grand Prize of $50,000. Between July 1 and September 24, 'Raising the Bar' fans can submit images that bring to life the five signal bars wherever and whenever they see them, by sending a picture message from their Cingular Wireless phone. Each submission enters each photo into the photo contest for a chance to win the Grand Prize of $50,000 or a weekly First Prize of $500. Submissions can be sent via Multimedia Message (MMS) to 52277-86946 (5 bars to win). Additionally, each submission automatically enters each customer into a sweepstakes for a chance to win a $50 cash prize. Cingular advertisements, created by BBDO New York and Atlanta, have become renowned for their use of the five-bar imagery. Houses, wheat fields, docks and even arrangements of sushi have been used to depict the coverage of Cingular's ALLOVER(TM) network. "We knew that our ALLOVER(TM) network would have people seeing 'More Bars in More Places'(TM), but when people began sending us unsolicited photographs of 'bar raising scenarios,' it confirmed our brand was positively resonating with the American public," said Marc Lefar, chief marketing officer, Cingular Wireless. "It gave us the idea to create the "Raising the Bar" Photo Contest and Sweepstakes, which rewards people for identifying with the Cingular brand and for using our wireless technology in their everyday lives." Each week, five randomly selected winners will receive $50 in cash for their photo submission. Additionally, one winner from each week will receive $500 and be named "Photo of the Week" by a panel of judges. At the end of the promotion, Cingular's celebrity judge, Robert Clark, -- an avid user of Sony Ericsson's S710 camera phone -- will judge the top photos and select five finalists. From those five finalists, our customers will select the Grand Prize winner by voting for their favorite photo via text messaging. The photo with the most votes will receive the $50,000 Grand Prize. Participants can enter as many times as they like, with every photo message submitted counting as one daily sweepstakes and contest entry. The contest will be supported by an online media and advertising campaign created by Atmosphere BBDO, Cingular's digital agency of record. For more details and rules and regulations about the "Raising the Bar" Photo Contest and Sweepstakes, please visit our website at http://www.cingular.com/fivebars. Cingular's ALLOVER(TM) network is the largest digital voice and data network in America, covering 270 million people. Coverage is not available in all areas. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 50.4 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/. About Robert Clark Robert Clark is a freelance photographer based in New York City and shoots for major magazines and publishing houses. His photos regularly appear on the cover of major magazines including National Geographic. Commissioned to capture the Houston Texans' inaugural football season, the collection was recently published and showcased at the Houston Museum of Fine Art. He currently is wrapping up the Image America project, a road trip of spontaneous photography all captured with the Sony Ericsson S710a. Visit the Image America site at http://robertclark.americanphotomag.com/flash/. The S710a is available exclusively from Cingular Wireless. About Sony Ericsson Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serve the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories, PC-cards and M2M solutions. Established as a joint venture by Ericsson and Sony in 2001, with headquarters in London, the company employs 6,000 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. For more information, please visit http://www.sonyericsson.com/us/press DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Clay Owen of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-6153, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.cingular.com/fivebars http://robertclark.americanphotomag.com/flash http://www.sonyericsson.com/us/press

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