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Wireless -- The Number One Gift Choice of Teens Wireless surpasses popularity of PCs and stereos according to Cingular survey ATLANTA, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa, forget the CD's. DVD's? Old news. This year, young people are asking for wireless phones and service plans as their number one electronic gadget for the holidays. In a survey conducted for Cingular Wireless, wireless phones edged out computers, software and accessories as the top electronic gadget on the holiday wish list among teens aged 13 to 17. Only two years ago, wireless phones were number three -- behind video game systems and DVD players. "There's no surprise that teens have embraced wireless technology," said David Garver, Executive Director of Marketing at Cingular Wireless. "Not only do wireless phones provide the best way to stay in touch, many models of phones also serve as cameras, MP3 players and messaging devices." Among the top gadgets desired by teens in 2003: 1) Wireless phone and service plan 2) PC, software and accessories 3) Stereo, CD player and accessories 4) DVD player 5) Video game system or accessories 6) Digital camera Reasons for wanting wireless Among teens who ranked wireless products in the top five most-desired gifts, nearly half (46 percent) said they wanted a wireless phone to "keep in touch with friends and family." That's a significant increase over 2001, when only 33 percent said they wanted wireless to keep in touch. Safety concerns have become more important for wanting wireless. Teens often expressed that they wanted a wireless device "just in case/for emergencies" (23 percent), or for "safety reasons" (7 percent), both mentioned significantly more often than in 2001 (13 percent and 3 percent respectively). However, teens say they're less concerned with the "coolness" factor of wireless phones. "It's cool/Can show off" dropped to 7 percent as a reason to want a wireless device as a gift, down from 13 percent in 2001. Wireless data is hot Although voice is still king among teen users, wireless internet service is the most desired feature among teens - a finding that mirrored the 2001 survey. This year's survey also finds that specialty ringtones and SMS messaging are more desirable than in 2001. The survey of 390 teenagers was conducted from Dec. 3 - 8 by International Communications Research. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth (NYSE:BLS), serves more than 23 million voice and data customers across the United States. A leader in mobile voice and data communications, Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Cingular has launched the world's first commercial deployment of wireless services using Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE) technology. Cingular provides cellular/PCS service in 43 of the top 50 markets nationwide, and provides corporate e-mail and other advanced data services through its GPRS, EDGE and Mobitex packet data networks. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ . Notes: Rankings in the 2001 Survey among 13 to 17 year olds: 1) DVD player 2) Video game box (Playstaion2, X-Box or other video games accessories) 3) Wireless Phone and service plan 4) Stereo/CD player and accessories 5) Computer, software and accessories DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Clay Owen, +1-404-236-6153, or email, , or Jennifer Bowcock, +1-404-236-6319, or email, , both of Cingular Wireless Web site: http://www.cingular.com/

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