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Cingular Wireless Deploys Rapid Response to Impacted Areas following Hurricane Rita's Destruction HOUSTON, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless provider in the U.S., is restoring service in the areas impacted by Hurricane Rita. Cingular crews are targeting the hardest-hit areas including Beaumont, Port Arthur and southeast Houston. Aerial surveys of Cingular facilities began Saturday. "All of our switching facilities and approximately 90% of our south Texas cell sites are operational now," said Andy Shibley, vice president and general manager for Cingular's South Texas market. "Sites that are out are primarily the result of commercial power outages. As power is restored throughout the region, we expect the remaining sites to come back on line." The company began moving resources -- portable generators, mobile "COW" units (cell sites on wheels), fuel and employees from its staging areas to Houston and other impacted areas. Network technicians from Texas and throughout the country have been deployed to install portable generators at sites without power and make repairs as needed. "We know how important communications is during times like these, so we are committed to restoring full service as quickly as we can," Shibley said. "That's why some of our network technicians actually spent Friday night at our switching centers throughout the Houston area to provide immediate hands-on assistance if needed." Cingular also have been working closely with state and local emergency management officials to ensure a smooth restoration effort. Cingular will begin efforts to reopen its Houston-area stores on Sunday. Customers trying to utilize their wireless service during and after an emergency should try text messaging, or SMS (Short Messaging Service). Most wireless phones today are text-messaging capable. Text messaging uses less bandwidth, and experience has proven that people are more likely to get through with text messaging. When additional people attempt to make voice calls at the same time, it adds congestion to the network, which can block calls from getting through. That doesn't happen with text messaging. Using text messaging helps free up the voice lines for emergency officials. Please visit http://www.cingularhurricaneupdates.com/ for regular updates. 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/. DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Chris Comes, +1-312-282-0539 - wireless, , or Meg Frainey, +1-469-229-7784 - office, +1-214-497-6072 - wireless, Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.cingularhurricaneupdates.com/ http://cingular.mediaroom.com/

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