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Company Answers the Call with Over $16 Million in 2006 To Provide Most Reliable Service DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless announced today the addition of 6 new cell sites as part of its $16 million network enhancement this year to extend coverage and enhance the quality of service for customers in Iowa. The company is delivering on network enhancements with the addition of more new cell sites in Iowa and Western Illinois. As a result, Cingular's ALLOVER(TM) network* - the largest digital voice and data network - has grown bigger, better and more powerful in Iowa and Western Illinois. * The ALLOVER(TM) network covers more than 270 million people. Coverage not available in all areas. "Cingular Wireless is committed to making a significant improvement by enhancing and expanding its network in Iowa and Western Illinois. Quality and coverage are everything in our business and our customers can be assured they're receiving the most reliable service," said Jeff Harkman, vice president and general manager for Iowa. "Our goal is to provide the most reliable wireless service for our customers." New Cell Sites To date 28 new cell sites have been added in Iowa this year. This enabled the company to add new service or enhance existing service through many areas. Recent cell site additions include the following locations: Dubuque, IA North of downtown including John Deere Plant Marshalltown, IA North of Route 30 and east of Route 14 Hampton, IL Coverage improvements throughout Lawton, IA Hwy 20 and Charles Waterloo, IA Diagonal St & W Airline HWY Cordova, IL Coverage improvements throughout "It's great to see that the investments we're making in our network are paying off, especially for customers. Quality and coverage are everything in our business and our customers can be assured that we're working to provide them with the most reliable wireless service in the industry," said Harkman. "We continue to improve capacity and in-building wireless coverage by adding new cell sites." Cingular network engineers constantly monitor the network, driving throughout Iowa and Western Illinois. Nationally, Cingular uses a variety of companies, as well as its own technicians, to drive test its network. The company expects this army of testers to drive nearly 30 million miles - the equivalent of 50 round trips to the moon - to measure the quality and coverage of its network. The company's network growth relies on advanced GSM/EDGE technology. EDGE is the fastest national wireless data network in the country. Globally GSM is used by more than 1.5 billion people in 200-plus countries. Cingular customers can use a single handset to make calls in more than 185 countries and access data services in more than 95 countries. For more information about Cingular, please visit http://www.cingular.com/. 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(TM) 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: Chris Comes of Cingular Wireless, +1-847-765-3602, or wireless, +1-312-282-0539, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/ http://cingular.mediaroom.com/

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