Cingular Wireless Investing More Than $210 Million in Its North Carolina Network in 200624 February 2006
Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless carrier, is investing $210 million in its North Carolina network in 2006, bringing customers even more wireless services, call quality and coverage.
The 2006 investment in Cingular's North Carolina network will bring 196 new cell sites, high-speed data services, the addition of portable and permanent generators, and other enhancements to Cingular's ALLOVER(SM) Network, which is the nation's largest all-digital voice and data network.
In 2005, Cingular invested more than $161 million in its North Carolina network. Nationwide, the company spent $6.5 billion on its network and plans to do the same in 2006, bringing its overall investment since the company's 2004 acquisition of AT&T Wireless to more than $13 billion.
"Our ongoing focus is to offer Cingular customers the best wireless experience possible," said Alison Hall, Vice President & General Manager, Cingular Wireless - North and South Carolina. "This network investment will enable us to continue to bring residents of North Carolina the highest quality service available -- service that is enhanced by best-in-industry calling plan value and cutting-edge devices."
Network enhancements planned for 2006 in North Carolina include:
- Expanded coverage for the Highlands area and improved coverage between
Highlands and Franklin
- Expanded coverage in Murphy and along Hwy. 19 north to Andrews
- Significant improvements on the south side of Charlotte in the South
Park and residential areas in Union County
- Additional coverage at the Charlotte Douglas Airport
- Additional coverage for Davidson College, north of Charlotte
- Expanded coverage for the heart of Wilmington and along the Cape Fear
River
- Expanded coverage in Jacksonville and surrounding Camp LeJeune
- Additional coverage on the Ft. Bragg military base and in and around
the Fayetteville area
- Additional coverage in Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham
- Additional coverage in north Burlington and Mebane
Significantly, Cingular recently launched its third-generation (3G) wireless network technology in 16 major cities, with more to follow across the country, including more than 20 in the Southeast. With 3G, customers will access information and applications at broadband speeds in the office, on the road or at home. The service -- via laptop data cards or 3G-compatible phones this year -- provides average mobile data connections between 400-700Kbps (kilobits per second) on the downlink and bursts to more than a megabit per second.
"Last year, we invested over $1.8 billion in our network and added more than 780 cell sites in the Southeast Region alone -- 2006 will be another landmark year for the Southeast and for North Carolina," said Steve Sitton, president, Southeast Region, Cingular Wireless. "Network integration further improves our already stellar coverage and call capacity, while our 3G technology gives our customers a powerful network of broadband speeds and ubiquitous voice and data service."
Network Testing
Cingular diligently monitors the quality and coverage of its network. In addition to third-party vendors who assess the company's network performance, Cingular network engineers constantly monitor the network, driving approximately 30,000 miles per month throughout North Carolina. Cingular also uses third party drive-testing vendors to assess the company's network performance and wireless coverage.
Enhancing the Customer Experience
Thanks to its advanced network, Cingular customers use the best services that wireless can offer. For example, customers can choose from an exciting array of wireless devices including the recently launched Motorola SLVR, Cingular's second handset capable of downloading iTunes directly from a PC. Another of many innovative services available is Cingular Sounds Live, which will utilize the company's on-demand streaming video service, Cingular Video(TM), so that customers can watch concert highlights on their 3G- compatible wireless phones.
Additionally the company offers an interactive mapping tool at all retail locations and by calling 1-866-CINGULAR. The tool provides customers with up- to-date wireless coverage information and is designed to answer a customer's specific wireless coverage questions based on an address, street intersection, zip code or even a landmark.
For more information about Cingular, call 1-866-CINGULAR or visit http://www.cingular.com/
About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 54.1 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc., formerly SBC Communications Inc., (NYSE: T), and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVER(TM) network -- and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is a leader in third generation wireless technology. Its 3G network is the first widely available service in the world to use HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(R), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/. Get Cingular Wireless press releases e- mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/
Source: prnewswire
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