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Cingular Wireless Makes Donation to American Red Cross for Hurricane Charley Recovery Efforts Store locations throughout the state also collecting donations ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To aid in the massive recovery efforts for the many individuals and families who suffered major loss due to Hurricane Charley, Cingular Wireless is making a $20,000 donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. More than 125 Cingular store locations throughout Florida are also collecting donations for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund through the month of September. "Through their financial support and by providing an opportunity for customers to support our relief efforts, Cingular is demonstrating true community support to its neighbors in Florida," said Skip Seitz, Senior Vice President, Growth and Integrated Development of the American Red Cross. "Now more than ever, it is important for communities to come together to support one another." Other Community Support Initiatives: -- Free emergency calling stations were set up at Cingular's company- owned stores in the areas affected by Hurricane Charley which included: Orlando, Cape Coral, North Port, Naples and Ft. Myers. The free calling stations remain set up in Charlotte County, the hardest hit area. Individuals are able to make free phones calls anywhere in the United States. -- Four COLTs (Cellular on Light Trucks or mobile cell sites) have been set up to boost wireless capacity in impacted areas including Charlotte County Airport and Punta Gorda. -- Hundreds of Cell Boost batteries are available at no charge in Cingular's company-owned stores in the Fort Myers area for those who do not have power and need to charge their cell phones. -- More than 350 phones have been provided to emergency agencies including the American Red Cross, the Emergency Operations Center, and the Florida National Guard. "The American Red Cross is an amazing organization that is providing much needed food, shelter and support to victims of Hurricane Charley," said Dan Norman, vice president and general manager of Cingular Wireless-North Florida. "We hope that this donation can help make a positive impact on the continuing restoration efforts." 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/ . About American Red Cross All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of Hurricane Charley and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emergency medication, counseling, and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting http://www.redcross.org/ . 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/ http://www.redcross.org/

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