LEXINGTON, Ky., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's largest wireless carrier is growing its network and meeting the need for enhanced coverage in Eastern Kentucky. Cingular Wireless today announced that it recently added two new cell sites in the area, ensuring Kentucky customers stay connected. These new sites are some of the more than 25 new cell sites Cingular has planned for Kentucky and Southern Indiana before the end of the year.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040930/CINGLOGO ) These new sites serve the following areas: * New service in Menifee County along Hwy. 460 near Frenchburg * Enhanced service in southwest Lincoln County, along Hwy. 127 from Danville to Liberty and Hwy. 78 from Stanford to Hustonville.

"These two new additions to our network are part of Cingular's plan to provide the very best possible wireless network to our customers across Kentucky," said Jim Thorpe, vice president and regional manager for Cingular's Tennessee and Kentucky market. "Whether you are a businessperson calling Tokyo or a farmer checking the weather forecast on your PDA, we want our customers to know they can count on Cingular."

Cingular Wireless plans to spend more than $85 million on its Kentucky network before year-end, increasing coverage and capacity, building more than 25 new cell sites, adding portable generators and back-up batteries, and offering enhanced new features. Significantly, Cingular recently launched its third-generation (3G) wireless network technology in 16 major cities, with more to follow across the country, including Louisville. 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 400-700 Kbps (kilobits per second) on the downlink and bursts to more than a megabit per second. Cingular's local investment is part of a more than $6 billion commitment to enhance and expand its ALLOVER(R) network nationwide this year.

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 57.3 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corporation , has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation-the ALLOVER(R) 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

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CONTACT: Laurie Parker of Cingular Wireless, +1-615-221-3690, or
wireless, +1-615-202-3463, or Laurie.parker@cingular.com

Web site: http://www.cingular.com/
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