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Northeastern PA Gets 'Cingular' Experience in Wireless Market Launch Brings Advanced Network, Diverse Phones and Exciting National Voice and Data Options SCRANTON, Pa., July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless has arrived! Though the company has been serving Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware for nearly 20 years, Cingular Wireless is pleased to announce the expansion of our network and service area in to northeastern Pennsylvania, including Lackawanna, Monroe, and Luzerne counties. Consumers and businesses in the Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Pocono areas can now enjoy all the value and benefits available from the nation's second- largest wireless company, including the widest selection of handsets, nationwide calling plans, advanced wireless data services and Cingular's exclusive "Rollover" feature that lets customers save their unused minutes for future use. "Cingular Wireless is excited to expand in to northeastern Pennsylvania. We take great pride in our long standing Pennsylvania heritage and in delivering a quality wireless experience to our customers, so having a local presence in this area of the state is very exciting," said James Flynn, vice president and general manager of Cingular Wireless in Pennsylvania, "Our goal is to roll out products and services that offer quality and value never before seen in this area. That means compelling rate plans, extensive coverage and the latest in cutting-edge wireless devices." Cingular Services for Work and Play Customers in this region can now enjoy all the benefits offered by one of the nation's largest wireless providers including true nationwide calling plans, unlimited mobile-to-mobile offers and, of course, Cingular's signature "Rollover(sm)" feature that lets customers keep their unused minutes for future use. Because Cingular Wireless has built out this newest market using GSM, the world standard in wireless technology, the company is able to offer one of the widest handset arrays of any wireless carrier in the country. Cingular boasts a robust portfolio of consumer products, including cool, color screen phones that can take pictures, play MP3s, and send text and multi-media messages. Cingular customers can download some of the truest ring tones and games available on the market and even use their handset to surf the Internet. Integrated wireless voice and data applications for businesses large and small including increasingly popular e-mail management capability offered by the Blackberry 7280 with voice capability, has helped Cingular become the largest provider of wireless data services in the United States. A Cingular Network Experience In recent months Cingular has been aggressively building an advanced GSM/GPRS network throughout the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, investing more than $7.8 million to build out the network across the Scranton, Wilkes- Barre and Stroudsburg region. This includes providing additional coverage along the major corridors of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike as well as in business and residential areas in and around Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Stroudsburg. This investment is above and beyond the company's $215 million investment over the last two years for the implementation of an advanced voice and data network and improving coverage and capacity throughout the Central and Eastern Pennsylvania area, Southern New Jersey and Delaware to enhance network performance and deliver advanced wireless applications like multi-media picture messaging, wireless business e- mail services and interactive gaming to the region. GSM is the Global System for Mobile Communications, and delivers the latest technology advances, including phones with greater functionality and unique features, high-speed data connectivity and superior sound quality. With almost 1 billion people in 200-plus countries using this technology, more than 70% of the world's total wireless market is GSM. And what GSM delivers for voice, GPRS technology delivers for data. GPRS, or General Packet Radio System, is an enhancement for GSM that transmits and receives data in packets. Cingular opened its first company-owned retail location on June 1 at the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre, and Cingular service is also available at more than a dozen agent locations throughout northeastern Pennsylvania including Wireless Worx, UPI Wireless, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale Club and Sam's Clubs. Along with the launch of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market, Cingular is also in the process of rolling out a number of new initiatives that support its commitment to improving the customer experience at all points of contact the initial sale, service, billing, call center contact and on-line presence. In recent months, the company has introduced simplified coverage maps and rate plans as well as self service enhancements that let customers check account information and add services right from their handsets by dialing *BAL for their balance, *MIN to check minutes, *PAY to pay their bill and *NOW to order features like text messaging packages. These and other initiatives are specifically designed to make Cingular Wireless the carrier of choice in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, the Poconos and surrounding areas. About Cingular Wireless in the Philadelphia region Cingular Wireless Philadelphia serves central and southeastern Pennsylvania, central and southern New Jersey and the state of Delaware. In spring 2003, Cingular announced the Philadelphia region launch of its next generation network using Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology for voice, and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for high-speed wireless data. The company invested more than $215 million in building this advanced wireless network in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, and the company recently announced commercial deployment of wireless services using Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology. More than 1 billion people in 200-plus countries use GSM technology, which delivers a superior network, the world's widest selection of devices, and faster downloads on games, instant messaging and picture messaging. In Spring of 2004, Cingular expanded its reach in Northeastern Pennsylvania and has invested more than $7.8 million to bring these advanced services to the region. 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: Alexa Graf Kaufman of Cingular Wireless, +1-301-489-3610, or wireless, +1-301-742-0888, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/

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