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Hurricane Season 2004 -- Wireless Tips You Need To Know Before Severe Weather Strikes Cingular Wireless Recommends an Emergency Communications Plan BOCA RATON, Fla., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- There are 152 million wireless users in the U.S. and more than 156 million calls made to emergency numbers each day. With the 2004 hurricane season about to begin Cingular wants consumers to understand what to expect when they use their cell phones or other wireless devices during an emergency and what they can do to prepare - before a hurricane or severe weather hits. "Taking the time to plan now can make a considerable difference in how much a hurricane or any severe weather affects your family or business," says Rich Guidotti, vice president/general manager, Cingular Wireless-South Florida. "Any emergency plan should include a communications component, too, so that every member of the family knows who to contact if they get separated." There are many weather-related events that can put you in a dangerous situation if you are not ready. According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricane hazards take many forms: storm surges, tornadoes, high winds, and flooding. By understanding the potential dangers, you can help prepare your family to be ready. What can you do to prepare yourself before severe weather hits? -- Program in all of your emergency contact numbers. Program in 9-1-1, the police department, fire station and hospital contact numbers as well as your family members into your cell phone so you don't have to think about it during and after an emergency. -- Have a family communications plan in place. Designate someone out of the area as a central contact, and make certain all family members know who to contact if they become separated. -- Keep your wireless phone batteries charged at all times. Have an alternate plan to recharge your battery in case of power outages. -- Keep your wireless phone dry. The biggest threat from hurricanes is water versus wind damage so keep your equipment safe from the elements. -- Forward your home number to your wireless number in the event of an evacuation. That way you will get incoming calls from your landline phone. -- Consider additional cell phones for your family's use. If you want to add additional cell phones to your wireless service, remember to do so prior to the emergency. What can you do to get through to loved ones during an emergency? -- Try short/text messaging service (SMS). Many phones today are SMS capable. Also, if you have a wireless data device such as a BlackBerry, you can use its messaging capabilities to communicate. -- Use a landline phone if it is available. In many instances, landline service may still be available in your area so this still may be an option. -- Keep non-emergency calls to a minimum; limit your calls to the most important ones. Chances are that if there is severe weather, many people will be attempting to place wireless calls to loved ones, friends and business associates. If the landline phones are not working, this probability increases. -- Wait 10 seconds before redialing a call. On many wireless phones, to re-dial a number, you simply push "send" after you've ended a call to re-dial the previous number. If you do this too quickly, the data from the phone to the cell sites does not have enough time to clear before you've resent the same data and may contribute to network congestion. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth (NYSE:BLS), serves more than 25 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 rates for GSM 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/ . DATASOURCE: Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Dawn Benton of Cingular Wireless, +1-404-236-5305, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/

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