Emergency preparations completed throughout Louisiana NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- If Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in or near Louisiana, BellSouth will be ready according to Merlin Villar, Regional Director for South Louisiana. "Thanks to BellSouth's advanced preparations for this year's hurricane season, our network is prepared for Hurricane Katrina. Our back up systems and emergency procedures are in place and operational," he said. "BellSouth's network is resilient and reliable, and our employees work tirelessly to keep the phone lines working." Villar explained that since a hurricane can hit BellSouth territory in many parts of the state, the company has to prepare on a wide-scale basis. "We have contingency plans in place for each area of Louisiana that is vulnerable. If a hurricane should strike, emergency procedures extending throughout BellSouth's nine-state region go into effect," he said. Hundreds of portable generators are in warehouses throughout the Southeast on standby, ready to be loaded onto tractor trailers and transported to an area hit by a storm. "The number one cause of telephone outages during a storm and immediately after it has passed is an interruption of commercial power to telephone switching offices and area distribution facilities. That's why we have battery back-up systems in place at each site," he said. "Our first priority after a hurricane passes is to hook up diesel-powered electric generators to the offices and distribution facilities that do not have commercial power. It's the most efficient way of preventing the loss of service to the majority of our customers." To further ensure reliability, the BellSouth network also includes SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) rings that provide instantaneous network redundancy or instantaneous backup connections in the event of a failure. In the rare event of a damaged cable due to storms or flooding, BellSouth maintains radio equipment to regenerate communications signals wherever necessary. BellSouth technicians can also be reassigned to areas hardest hit by the storm if extensive restoration work needs to be done. Last year, many BellSouth technicians from Louisiana assisted with restoration efforts in Alabama and Florida. Villar reminded customers that during power outages, cordless phones and other telecommunications equipment that relies on commercial power may not operate until electricity is restored, even if the telephone line is still working. Customers may want to keep a traditional telephone set that does not require electricity on hand for emergencies. "BellSouth has one of the most sophisticated communications networks in the world and our trademark is reliability," Villar said. "We are prepared for Hurricane Katrina and stand ready to keep communications systems operational." About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. BellSouth has joint control and 40 percent ownership of Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider with 51.6 million customers. Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(R), residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial-up and high-speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(R) and The Real Yellow Pages(R). BellSouth believes that diversity and fostering an inclusive environment are critical in maintaining a competitive advantage in today's global marketplace. More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com/. DATASOURCE: BellSouth Corporation CONTACT: Merlin Villar, +1-504-528-7900, for BellSouth Corporation Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/095650.html

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