BLS Bellsouth Cp

Cingular Wireless's Network Remains Strong as Restoration Efforts Continue Response Teams Continue to Deploy Portable Generators and Free Calling Stations in Impacted Areas ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite Hurricane Charley's wrath, Cingular Wireless's switching facilities remain fully operational, and the hurricane's impact on cell sites across central and west Florida was generally moderate. "Cingular Wireless plays a critical communications role during times of crisis, and our employees work tirelessly to maintain the network in order to provide these vital services," said Dan Norman, Cingular vice president and general manager. "About 90% of our cell sites in the stricken area were unaffected, but some sites are not in service now due to commercial power outages throughout the region and telephone company connection issues. Those cell sites are coming back on line as power is restored and as we deploy portable generators," Norman said. The company has activated two Network Restoration Centers - in Lakeland and Lake Mary -- to respond to the emergency situation and coordinate restoration efforts in the heaviest hit areas. "Our network personnel are working round the clock to restore service and so far have placed more than 80 portable generators at affected cell sites until commercial power is restored. This has reduced the number of out of service sites by more than half. We know customers depend on their wireless service, and we appreciate their patience," Norman said. Norman said the concentration of outages was heavier in the Orlando, Ft. Myers/Naples and Lakeland areas, and as a result, some customers - especially those in the Orlando area - may have had difficulty placing or receiving calls. Restoration Efforts Continue in Heaviest Hit Areas -- Free emergency calling stations have been set up in Cingular company- owned stores in Orlando, Cape Coral, Ft. Myers/Naples, Lakeland, and Daytona Beach. -- Teams of engineers continue site surveys to refuel back-up generators and determine where additional back-up is needed. -- Over 80 portable generators have been deployed at affected cell sites so far with more in route. -- Capacity at unaffected cell sites has been boosted to handle increase in call volume. -- Cingular's fleet of portable wireless facilities, or COWs - cellular on wheels - are also on stand-by if additional calling capacity is needed in the impacted areas. "We have 20 years of experience in dealing with natural disasters such as this and we continually review and refine our emergency contingency plans to ensure our network, processes and employees are always ready for any emergency," said Norman. "Our focus has been on the restoration of impacted cell sites, and we have made tremendous strides in getting sites back up in a short amount of time. We have also boosted power on unaffected sites to increase calling capacity. Our switching centers and cell sites are designed to withstand hurricane-force winds and all of our structures stood strong." One of Cingular's advantages as a national carrier with strong regional operations is that the company has local resources in place to respond to emergency situations, as well as national resources to draw upon. Norman said Cingular field engineers from throughout Florida and other states have been brought in to help conduct cell site surveys to inspect back-up batteries and to refuel and deploy additional generators where needed. Also, additional emergency equipment is being deployed from other Cingular markets to aid in the restoration effort. To provide support for the communities hardest hit by the hurricane, Cingular company-owned retail locations in the hardest hit areas are offering free phone calls to anywhere in the United States. Cingular also has deployed 250-plus wireless phones to a variety of emergency responders, including the American Red Cross, Florida National Guard and Florida Emergency Operations Center to aid in their restoration efforts. More phones are available if needed. Norman offers these tips to help customers communicate during this emergency: -- Try short/text messaging service (SMS) rather than placing a wireless call. The majority of Cingular phones are SMS capable. Also, if you have a wireless data device such as a BlackBerry, you can use its messaging capabilities to communicate. -- Be savvy about making your wireless call; keep non-emergency calls to a minimum. Many people are attempting to place wireless calls, so limit your calls to the most important ones. -- 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 redial 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. A good rule of thumb is to end the call, wait ten seconds, then hit send to redial your number. 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 is the largest provider of GSM services in the United States, and has a 100 percent digital GSM/GPRS footprint across its service area. It also launched the world's first commercial deployment of wireless services using Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology. Cingular also 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 cell, +1-404-202-6335, or Web site: http://www.cingular.com/

Copyright