TMCnet News
Cingular Wireless Network Still Performing Strong in Wake of KatrinaBOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's largest wireless carrier today announced its South Florida network is 85 percent operational in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. More than 100 technicians and engineers are on the ground deploying portable generators and working closely with local utilities and telephone company officials to quickly restore impacted sites. In addition to extra work crews, Cingular brought in dozens of portable generators and approximately 10,000 gallons of fuel, along with portable cells on wheels, for the recovery process. "Our primary goal is to fully restore the few sites that are down as soon as humanly possible, " said Rich Guidotti, vice president and general manager for Cingular's South Florida region. "Our network folks are working around the clock to ensure that happens." To prevent network congestion, Cingular is urging customers to keep non- emergency calls to a minimum and consider using text messaging as an alternative form of communication. Most wireless phones today are text messaging capable, and text messages oftentimes go through quicker than wireless voice calls during an emergency situation. If customers receive a fast busy or "your call cannot be completed at this time" message when trying to make a voice call, please wait 10 seconds before redialing. This allows the original call data to clear the network before the customer tries again. About Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 51.6 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corporation , has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVER(SM) network - and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. 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/. Cingular Wireless CONTACT: Kelly Layne Starling of Cingular Wireless, +1-561-775-4259, [email protected] Web site: http://www.cingular.com/http://cingular.mediaroom.com/ |