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ATLANTA, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's largest wireless carrier, Cingular Wireless, announced it has expanded its Georgia network yet again, this time through a multi-carrier initiative with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Cingular invested nearly $700K in its portion of the $2.7 million Distributed Antenna System (or DAS), which is part of the airport's multi-pronged wireless infrastructure initiative. The DAS will provide ubiquitous in-building wireless coverage throughout the airport, specifically in hard to reach areas that had little to no prior coverage. Areas include the underground transportation tunnel and pedestrian mall which are critical locations for the average 240-thousand travelers who pass through the airport each day. "With Cingular's Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network passengers can now enjoy global roaming and thus experience complete mobility when they travel through Hartsfield-Jackson Airport," said Lance Lyttle, Chief Information Officer at the Atlanta Airport. "This is welcomed news especially for our international travelers who will now be able to stay in touch with the rest of the world while they are at Hartsfield-Jackson." Cingular installed four cell sites supporting equipment based on its GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) technology. GSM is the world's most popular wireless technology, available in more than 200 countries around the globe. In fact, more than 70 percent of the world's total wireless market is GSM. GSM offers customers unparalleled global roaming capabilities, as well as the truest voice quality in wireless. Now Cingular customers traveling through the airport will have a better wireless experience with the ability to surf the web, download files, access email, and make calls from virtually anywhere throughout the building. "As a Georgia-based company, Cingular is thrilled to be a part of the Hartsfield-Jackson DAS project as we believe it is critical to invest in advancing the wireless infrastructure in our home state especially in growing public facilities like the Atlanta Airport," said Cliff Minor, Vice President and General Manager for Cingular's Georgia Operations. "Since Atlanta is home of the busiest airport in the world and a steadily increasing international travel market, Cingular's global roaming capabilities are a natural fit to meet the advanced needs of its global travelers." The company was the first wireless carrier to offer coverage in the airport-as BellSouth Mobility -- during the 1996 Olympic Games and has continued to expand and invest in its network since. Over the past three years, Cingular has invested more than $560 million in its Georgia network deploying next-generation GSM/GPRS/EDGE technology, preparing for its 3G implementation, integrating two massive networks and improving overall coverage and capacity throughout the state. Last year, the company spent over $6.2 billion nationwide, $360 million of which was in Georgia to expand and enhance service. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 52.3 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc., formerly SBC Communications Inc., (NYSE:T) 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. First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Dawn Benton of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-5305, or wireless, +1-404-202-6335, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://www.cingular.com/newsroom

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