MURRAY, Ky., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's largest wireless carrier is growing its network and providing enhanced wireless coverage as students head back to class at Murray State University. Cingular Wireless today announced that it recently added two new cell sites near campus, ensuring MSU students and other Murray 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: * College Farm Road, covering the western side of campus and providing enhanced capacity for both voice and data usage * Hwy. 641-Business, enhancing capacity for the eastern side of campus, as well in-building signal strength in southeast Murray

"Students, faculty and staff coming back to Murray State, as well as others living and working in the area, will have even stronger wireless coverage," said Jim Thorpe, vice president and regional manager for Cingular's Tennessee and Kentucky market. "Cingular wants to provide the best wireless network possible to our Murray customers, and these new sites will help us do just that."

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 - this year. 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 Cingular Wireless press releases emailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://cingular.mediaroom.com/.

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/
http://cingular.mediaroom.com/