Cingular Wireless Ready to Weather Hurricane Emily
18 Juillet 2005 - 9:47PM
PR Newswire (US)
Cingular Wireless Ready to Weather Hurricane Emily Carrier Also
Provides Consumer Tips for Wireless Use Before, During and After
the Storm SAN ANTONIO, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- With forecasters
predicting Hurricane Emily will reach landfall by Wednesday,
Cingular Wireless -- the nation's largest wireless voice and data
network -- has taken extensive steps to weather the storm.
"Cingular Wireless is extremely well prepared for Emily, or any
event that might impact our operations," said Andy Shibley,
Cingular's vice president and general manager for South Texas. "We
go through an extensive process to prepare for any eventuality. Our
employees are trained, prepared, and committed to doing all that we
can to provide wireless communications at all times, especially
during times of need." The Cingular network is designed and built
to withstand hurricane-force winds. Additionally, the company has a
rigorous emergency preparedness and response process in place: -
Cingular's Regional Network Operations Center (RNOC) monitors and
maintains the network 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The
monitoring system allows Cingular to assess and respond to any
emergency situation in a timely manner. - Cingular has secured and
prepared network staging areas in Harlingen, where additional
emergency equipment and personnel can be quickly deployed to
impacted areas. Additional network personnel from other states are
ready to assist. - Cingular is in the process of refueling all
back-up generators and has readied another 50 that are on stand-by
for use during Emily. Because electrical outages are prevalent
during storms, Cingular cell sites are backed up by high-capacity
batteries or emergency generators, ensuring a secure source for
power if needed. - Cingular has numerous self-contained portable
cell sites at emergency network facilities throughout the region.
Some are Cellular on Wheels, also known as "COWs;" other are
"COLTs", or Cellular on Light Trucks, which are smaller than COWs.
Both can be towed or driven into an area to provide extra call
capacity or to restore communications following a disaster. -
Cingular conducts ongoing readiness drills throughout the year to
ensure network facilities and personnel are ready-to-go at a
moment's notice. "Equally important, our employees are prepared to
help customers before, during and after these occurrences," added
Shibley. To help consumers understand what to expect when they use
their cell phones or other wireless devices during an emergency and
what they can do to prepare, Cingular offers these tips: Before
severe weather hits: - Program all emergency contact numbers into
your wireless phone. Store numbers for the police department, fire
station, hospital, as well as your family members so you don't have
to think about it during and after an emergency. - Have a family
communications plan in place. Designate someone out of the area as
a central contact, and make certain all family members know who to
contact if they become separated. - Keep your wireless phone
batteries charged at all times. If conditions permit, use your car
charger to charge your wireless phone when power is out, or pick up
a disposable battery that will give you an hour of talk time
without any charging. - Keep your wireless phone dry and protected.
The biggest threat from hurricanes is water versus wind damage so
keep your equipment safe from the elements by storing it in a
plastic sandwich or freezer bag. - Forward your home number to your
wireless number in the event of an evacuation. Since call
forwarding is based out of the telephone central office, you will
get incoming calls from your landline phone, even if your local
telephone service is disrupted at your home. In the unlikely event
the central office is isolated, call forwarding may not work. -
Consider additional cell phones for your family's use. If you want
to add additional cell phones to your wireless service, remember to
do so prior to the emergency. Staying in touch and maximizing your
wireless service during and after an emergency: - Try text
messaging, or SMS (Short Messaging Service). Most wireless phones
today are text messaging capable, and often times during an
emergency situation such as a hurricane, text messages will go
through quicker than voice calls. More importantly, using text
messaging helps free up the voice lines for emergency officials.
Additional charges may apply, depending on your plan. - Use a
landline phone if it is available. In many instances, landline
service may still be available in your area so this still may be an
option. - Keep non-emergency calls to a minimum. Remember to limit
your calls to the most important ones. Chances are that if there is
severe weather, many people will be attempting to place wireless
calls to loved ones, friends and business associates. If the
landline phones are not working, this probability increases. - Wait
10 seconds before redialing a call. On many wireless phones, to
redial a number, you simply push "send" after you've ended a call
to redial the previous number. If you do this too quickly, the data
from the phone to the cell sites does not have enough time to clear
before you've resent the same data and may contribute to network
congestion. - Use your wireless phone to access weather
information. Many homes lose power during severe weather. If you
have a wireless phone that provides access to the Internet, you can
watch the Weather Channel through Cingular's Mobi-TV service or
through My-Cast Weather. Additional charges may apply, depending on
your plan. - If you have a camera phone, take, store and send
photos of damaged property to your insurance company from your
device. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest
wireless carrier in the United States, serving 50.4 million
customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications
Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), has the
largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the
ALLOVER(SM) network -- and the largest mobile-to-mobile community
of any national wireless carrier. 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/ . Get Cingular Wireless
press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at
http://www.cingular.com/newsroom . DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless
CONTACT: Frank Merriman of Cingular Wireless, +1-972-774-4802, or
Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.cingular.com/newsroom
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