PROVIDENCE, R.I., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents and visitors to the greater Providence area no longer need to rely on wired connections for broadband access to information, as Cingular transforms the heart of the Ocean State into a wireless speedway.

"We're giving customers the ability to securely access information and applications at broadband speeds in the office, on the road or at home. With our 3G service, almost any spot in northern Rhode Island is a hot spot," said Steve Krom, vice president and general manager for Cingular in New England.

Cingular's 3G coverage area in the state spans from Pawtucket to North Smithfield in the north and from Barrington, Warwick and East Coventry in the south. It also covers all of Routes 295, 10 and 146.

Specific towns of coverage include North Smithfield, Woonsocket, Cumberland, Smithfield, Lincoln, Central Falls, Pawtucket, Gloucester, Scituate, Johnston, North Providence, Providence, East Providence, Cranston, Warwick, Barrington, Coventry, and West Warwick.

Cingular 3G not only offers advanced wireless services, such as viewing video clips through CingularVideo, it also enhances existing services by making them run faster. Customers can now download a game or ringtone or access mobile email quicker than ever. Business users will also appreciate Cingular's LaptopConnect, which allows the company's customers to use their laptops to access the Internet or email, download large files and attachments, or run business applications at average data speeds between 400-700 bps (kilobits per second) on the downlink, with bursts to more than a megabit per second.

Cingular's 3G network is the first widely available service in the world to use HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology. HSDPA is the high-speed evolution of GSM/EDGE (Global System for Mobile Communication/Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), which shares a common core network. GSM is the world's most popular wireless technology, which is used by more than one billion people in 210 countries.

About AT&T

AT&T's Cingular network in New England covers more than 13.6 million people and extends across 62,000 square miles. Cingular employs more than 700 people in the region. With 80 company-owned stores in addition to authorized local and national retailers, including RadioShack, New England customers have approximately 800 outlets to buy Cingular's products and services.

AT&T Inc. is a premier communications holding company in the United States and around the world, with operating subsidiaries providing services under the AT&T brand. AT&T is the recognized world leader in providing IP-based communications services to business and the U.S. leader in providing wireless, high speed Internet access, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. As part of its "three screen" integration strategy, AT&T is expanding video entertainment offerings to include such next-generation television services as AT&T U-verse(SM) TV. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/.

AT&T is a registered trademark of AT&T Knowledge Ventures. Subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. provide products and services under the AT&T brand. For more information, please review this announcement in the AT&T newsroom at http://www.att.com/newsroom.

CONTACT: Kate MacKinnon of Cingular Wireless, +1-781-690-5057, or
wireless, +1-508-498-5547, or kate.mackinnon@cingular.com

Web site: http://www.att.com/
http://www.att.com/newsroom