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More Than 180 New Sites Added in the Carolinas Since January CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's largest wireless carrier is growing its network and enhancing coverage in North Carolina. Cingular Wireless has added seven new cell sites in the greater Charlotte area, ensuring Carolinas customers stay connected. These new cell sites are some of the more than 300 new Cingular cell sites planned for the Carolinas before the end of 2006. The company has already added more than 180 new cell sites across the Carolinas in the last eight months, enhancing wireless service for those who live, work and play in the region. These new sites bring new or enhanced coverage to the following areas around Charlotte: - Improved coverage for travelers using wireless services at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Terminal areas - Around Northlake Mall and surrounding areas - The Pointe on Lake Norman, outside Mooresville, north of Charlotte - Along I-77 south of Richburg, S.C., near Exit 62, approximately 45 miles south of Charlotte - New coverage on Hwy. 221 from Union Mills to Thermal City, east of Asheville - The town of Cherryville, northwest of Gastonia - The town of Burnsville and along Hwy. 742 in Anson County, east of Charlotte "Our network engineers work round the clock, ensuring our customers have the best possible wireless service," said Alison Hall, vice president and general manager for Cingular's North and South Carolina market. "These seven new cell sites in and around Charlotte will provide better coverage and service to our customers throughout the Midstate area." Cingular Wireless plans to spend more than $385 million on its Carolinas network before year-end, increasing coverage and capacity, building more than 300 new cell sites, adding portable generators and back-up batteries, and offering enhanced new features. Significantly, Cingular recently launched its third-generation (3G) wireless network technology in 16 major cities, with more to follow across the country, including the Carolinas. With 3G, customers will access information and applications at broadband speeds in the office, on the road or at home. The service -- via laptop data cards or 3G- compatible phones this year -- provides average mobile data connections between 400-700Kbps (kilobits per second) on the downlink and bursts to more than a megabit per second. Cingular's local investment is part of a more than $6 billion commitment to enhance and expand its ALLOVER(R) network nationwide this year. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 57.3 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation-the ALLOVER(R) network-and the largest mobile- to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is a leader in third generation wireless technology. Its 3G network is the first widely available service in the world to use HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. 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 emailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/. DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Laurie Parker of Cingular Wireless, +1-615-221-3690, or wireless, +1-615-202-3463, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://cingular.mediaroom.com/

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