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Musicland Group Inc., a leading national entertainment retailer, today announced a strategic alliance with Cingular Wireless, the largest wireless company in the United States. The agreement is part of Musicland's continued diversification of its product offerings, and provides nearly 400 new sales outlets nationwide for Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS). Musicland will carry Cingular's Pay-As-You-Go GoPhone pre-paid products in Sam Goody and Media Play stores beginning in October. In addition, the two companies will focus on designing a "break-through" concept in wireless retailing. Musicland and Cingular Wireless will pilot new approaches to retailing digital and wireless devices, such as phones to download music and share pictures, as well as MP3 players, digital cameras, broadband, consumer electronics and fashion. Cingular will be the exclusive postpaid wireless provider for this new initiative, which will be rolled out in test markets in the coming months. "As Musicland expands its product offerings to include relevant lifestyle categories, such as wireless, it's important to align with industry leaders that share our vision and have the capacity to bring our ideas to life," Musicland CEO Eric S. Weisman said. "The agreement with Cingular is the first in a series of strategic partnerships indicating our aggressive expansion of the category." "Musicland will be a strong addition to Cingular's world class distribution network," said Glenn Lurie, President of National Distribution at Cingular. "Offering our products in Musicland's stores will play a significant role in Cingular's leadership in attracting the youth segment and creating new growth opportunities through innovative sales and marketing approaches." Musicland and Cingular will focus their efforts on the youth segment - a consumer group that many industry analysts feel offers the greatest growth potential in voice and data services over the next several years. Weisman added, "Young adults present huge upside when marketing converged devices. The objective is to establish an environment in our stores where the chemistry of relevant entertainment content and highly advanced devices can flourish." Go Phone Features Cingular's GoPhone plans offer the same great features as traditional Cingular Wireless plans, including voicemail, text and instant messaging, MEdia(SM) Net, competitive international calling rates and downloadable ringtones, graphics and games, and no long distance or roaming charges. Additionally, Cingular GoPhone users on the "Pay as You Go" program can also enjoy free mobile-to-mobile calling, giving them unlimited talk time with friends on Cingular's 50-million subscriber base for free. Cingular GoPhone customers have the flexibility of using any mobile phone provisioned for the Cingular network, or choosing from one of the three pre-packaged Cingular GoPhone products, including the Sony-Ericsson T290 ($59.99), the Motorola V173 ($79.99) and the Motorola V220 camera phone ($129.99). All pre-packaged GoPhone products are ready to use out of the box. For additional convenience, GoPhone users are notified of their account balance via a free text message immediately after a call is ended, and options for account replenishment are provided at this time so customers are prepared and in control of their account. Cingular is the nation's largest wireless company, with more than 51.6 million customers, 2,300 company-owned stores and kiosks, and product presence in 5,100 national retail stores. The company also is represented in 15,000 authorized agent locations. About Musicland Musicland Group Inc. is a leading national specialty retailer of entertainment products and services appealing to trend-conscious, entertainment-focused consumers. The company is expanding and diversifying its key entertainment offerings to satisfy the changing needs of its consumers. Musicland operates approximately 900 retail stores and online under the names Sam Goody (samgoody.com), Media Play (mediaplay.com) and Suncoast Motion Picture Company (suncoast.com) in 48 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 51.6 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(R), 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://cingular.mediaroom.com/