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Planning takes place amidst continued restoration activities in New Orleans ATLANTA, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- With the start of the 2006 hurricane season only one week away, BellSouth (NYSE:BLS) is prepared to respond quickly and effectively should storms strike in the Southeast. "Over the past nine months, BellSouth has remained intently focused on restoration efforts in New Orleans and preparations for the 2006 hurricane season," said Bill Smith, chief technology officer - BellSouth. "We are enhancing our already robust storm-preparedness activities to ensure that communications services can be maintained, or restored quickly, after any weather-related events." One of the most critical issues to BellSouth after a storm is providing power to its network in the event that commercial power is lost. This year, BellSouth has further increased its supply of generators to power the network immediately after a storm hits. In addition, many of BellSouth local digital loop carrier and switching facilities now house permanent generators, some of which are fueled by natural gas and do not require re-fueling. Over the past ten years, BellSouth has invested tens of millions of dollars into its generator supply. Given the unique nature of the flooding that occurred in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, BellSouth has continued to focus on preparing its facilities for another major flood event. For example, the company has located more network-critical switches and generators on the upper floors of buildings, as well as elevating low-lying key distribution facilities. BellSouth is working collaboratively with the FCC and appropriate government agencies to address issues related to first responder status and access to impacted areas. In addition, BellSouth is in active dialogue with its partners and suppliers to ensure they meet the company's supply needs before, during and after a storm hits. In 2005, BellSouth territory was struck by Hurricane Katrina, an unprecedented natural disaster and the worst in the company's, and the nation's, history. Given the location of its territory, BellSouth has dealt with more hurricanes than any of its industry peers, and has built one of the strongest, most resilient networks in the world. "Just as important as our preparedness efforts, we want residents and businesses in hurricane-prone areas to be equally prepared," continued Smith. "That's why BellSouth is dedicating significant resources to educating coastal communities on what they should do to prepare -- and respond -- should a storm come their way." BellSouth offers customers tips to help them stay safe and connected before, during, and after a hurricane or other natural disaster: Before the Storm: - Be sure you have a "Hurricane Phone" -- a traditional wireline telephone with a corded handset available in case your power goes out. The base of a cordless phone requires commercial electricity and will not work in a power outage. - Check out the Community Information Pages in the local edition of the Real Yellow Pages(R) from BellSouth. This section includes critical information for hurricane and severe weather planning, survival, and recovery. It also can be found online at http://www.realpageslive.com/. - Designate a friend or family member outside the storm area as a central contact. Plan for everyone in your family to communicate with that person to relay status and location information. - Ensure that your home and business are equipped with the proper telephone services to re-route communications in the event of a service interruption. BellSouth offers products like BellSouth(R) Voice Mail, CrisisLink(SM), Remote Access Call Forwarding, Call Forwarding Don't Answer and Call Forwarding Busy Line. - Make sure that your cordless and wireless cellular phones all work properly and are charged and that you have extra batteries and car chargers available. - Program all emergency contact numbers into your Cingular Wireless(R) phone. Make sure that everyone in your family has the home, work, and cell numbers of family members, friends, and co-workers with whom they will want to communicate. - Consider additional cell phones for your family's use or for storage in your safe room/basement. The Cingular(R) Family Talk and Prepaid plans offer great options for staying in touch during an emergency. - Consider downloading new tools that will give you the latest weather forecasts and traffic updates. Cingular offers tools such as My-Cast Weather, available for download at http://www.cingular.com/media, to help you stay up-to-date over your wireless device. - BellSouth posts emergency information on its Web site at http://www.bellsouth.mediaroom.com/. During a hurricane or other severe storm, BellSouth will update the site with status information about the BellSouth network. During the Storm: - Use your phone for necessary calls only, leaving lines open for emergencies. - During a power outage, your phone may be inoperable if your cordless phone, caller ID unit or other telephone equipment requires external power. Plug a non-electrical telephone directly into a phone jack to verify if you have service. - During periods of extremely high calling volume, you may experience a slow dial tone. If you don't hear a dial tone immediately, wait a few seconds or hang up and try your call again later. - Consider short/text messaging service (SMS) as a communications alternative. Sending a text message requires less signal strength and can be a fast and effective alternative to voice calls during an emergency. After the Storm: - The quickest and easiest way to report a problem with your phone service is to contact BellSouth on the Web at http://www.bellsouth.com/repair. - You may encounter delays in getting calls through because of high demand for service; be patient and keep trying. It is still a crisis situation -- keep your calls short to allow emergency calls to get through. More helpful hints and updated storm information can be found on the BellSouth Web site at http://www.bellsouth.com/starlines (for consumers) and http://www.bellsouth.com/businesslines (for businesses). BellSouth is the premiere communications provider for the Southeastern United States. About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 500 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth has joint control and 40 percent ownership of Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider with 55.8 million customers. Backed by award-winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(R), residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial-up and high-speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers print and online directory advertising through The Real Yellow Pages(R) and YELLOWPAGES.COM(TM) from BellSouth. BellSouth believes that diversity and fostering an inclusive environment are critical in maintaining a competitive advantage in today's global marketplace. More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com/. DATASOURCE: BellSouth Corporation CONTACT: Nadine Randall of BellSouth Corporation, +1-404-829-8724, or Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/ http://www.bellsouth.mediaroom.com/ http://www.realpageslive.com/ http://www.cingular.com/media http://www.bellsouth.com/repair http://www.bellsouth.com/starlines http://www.bellsouth.com/businesslines Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/095650.html

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