Cingular adds 17 new cell sites this month in Raleigh/Eastern N.C.

[jones]

Cingular Wireless Expands Retail Presence in Raleigh and Network Coverage Throughout Eastern NC
Thursday December 2, 1:34 pm ET
New store and 17 new cell sites to improve customers' wireless experience


RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet increased demand for wireless service in the Raleigh area, Cingular Wireless today announced the grand opening of the company's third store location in Raleigh along with the addition of 17 new cell sites this month enhancing wireless coverage in Raleigh and throughout Eastern N.C.
The new store is located at 4351-103 The Circle at North Hills Street in Raleigh and showcases a new store design and layout making it easier for customers to try out innovative wireless phones and features. The store features an interactive "Live Bar" where customers can test actual working phones, PDAs and BlackBerry devices, demo ring tones, games and surf the wireless Internet.

"Consumers have become more and more dependent on wireless service, and our retail expansion coupled with additional cell sites will help us meet that growing demand," said Rob Forsyth, vice president and general manager of Cingular's Carolina operations. "By expanding our retail presence, we make it easier and more convenient for consumers to learn about Cingular's cutting- edge wireless capabilities."

In addition to the retail expansion, the company is also adding new cell sites throughout Eastern N.C. as part of this year's $55 million North Carolina network expansion campaign. The 2004 investment includes the addition of almost 70 new cell sites and enhancements to existing sites in the Eastern half of the state which will enhance call quality, increase capacity and extend the network's footprint. Of the 26 new sites planned for the fourth quarter, 17 are being activated in December. "Network quality is a priority at Cingular, so over the past three years we have invested more than $300 million in our North Carolina network," Forsyth said. Cingular, the nation's largest wireless carrier, has the largest digital voice and data network in America.

In December, Cingular is boosting wireless coverage in the following areas of Eastern N.C.:

Goldsboro-Kinston Market
- In Snow Hill
- Along US Highway 258 Northwest of Kinston

Raleigh-Durham Market
- Along US Highway 1 near Tramway just south of Sanford
- Along Highway 42 east of I-40 near Austin Pond area
- Residential areas south of Wake Forest near intersection of Forestville
and Burlington Mills Roads
- Along Highway 210 between I-40 and the town of Angier
- In the town of Bunn
- U.S. Highway 421 just south of Siler City
- U.S. Highway 421 west of Lillington

Fayetteville-Lumberton Market
- Highway 87 in Fayetteville between I-95 and I-95 Business
- In the Rockfish area just west of Hope Mills
- Near the intersection of I-95 & Highway 53
- Along Highway 211 west of Raeford near Timberland area
- US Highway 1 just north of Southern Pines

Greenville-Washington Market
- Residential areas southeast of Greenville, NC near Highway 43 and
Worthington Road intersection
- In Williamston

Wilmington Market
- In Wilmington near the intersection of Kerr Avenue and Market Street

Sites added recently improve coverage in the following areas:
- In South Goldsboro and along US Highway 70 Bypass in Goldsboro near
North Park
- Along I-95 between the towns of Dunn and Benson
- I-40 and Highway 50 north of Benson
- Residential areas along Buffalo Road east of Raleigh
- Along US Highway 421 between Clinton and Spivey's Corner
- Willis Landing/Bear Creek area east of Camp Lejeune


Cingular operates a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network in the Carolinas. GSM is the Global System for Mobile Communications, giving customers the latest technology advances, including phones with greater functionality and unique features, high-speed data connectivity and superior sound quality. With almost 1 billion people in 200-plus countries using GSM technology, more than 70% of the world's total wireless market is GSM.

What GSM delivers for voice, EDGE technology delivers for data. EDGE is a high-speed wireless data service which gives customers true "third generation" (3G) wireless data services with data speeds typically three times faster than what was available on GPRS.

The Raleigh store grand-opening activities and ribbon-cutting will take place December 3 at 4 pm with special guest speaker Harvey Schmitt, President of Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The public is invited to enjoy free refreshments, register for a drawing for a free new Motorola RAZR V3 and do some early Christmas shopping.

Cingular has hired five employees to staff its newest store which will be managed by Robert Newhart, a Raleigh resident of 10-plus years. The company employs about 110 people in the Raleigh area.

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 46 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC - News) and BellSouth (NYSE: BLS - News), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), 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://www.cingular.com/newsroom .

[bobolito]

The cell site race continues....now it's Verizon's turn!

[scottb]

Wirelessly posted (Samsung i600: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE) Opera 7.60 [en])

This should help Cingular quite a bit since Verizon is pretty weak in eastern NC. Maybe they should have saved a few jobs by transferring ATTWS employees instead of hiring new ones.

[Frederic A. Moritz]

I wonder if you can give me any clues as to whether Cingular will actually expand cell coverage of coastal n. Carolina further to the east, ie. Elizabeth City, Hyde County, Outer Banks, Oriental, those areas of that region where US Cellular is the primary carrier.

Many thanks,

Fred Moritz
fm@worldlymind.org

Originally Posted by jones

Cingular Wireless Expands Retail Presence in Raleigh and Network Coverage Throughout Eastern NC
Thursday December 2, 1:34 pm ET
New store and 17 new cell sites to improve customers' wireless experience


RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet increased demand for wireless service in the Raleigh area, Cingular Wireless today announced the grand opening of the company's third store location in Raleigh along with the addition of 17 new cell sites this month enhancing wireless coverage in Raleigh and throughout Eastern N.C.
The new store is located at 4351-103 The Circle at North Hills Street in Raleigh and showcases a new store design and layout making it easier for customers to try out innovative wireless phones and features. The store features an interactive "Live Bar" where customers can test actual working phones, PDAs and BlackBerry devices, demo ring tones, games and surf the wireless Internet.

"Consumers have become more and more dependent on wireless service, and our retail expansion coupled with additional cell sites will help us meet that growing demand," said Rob Forsyth, vice president and general manager of Cingular's Carolina operations. "By expanding our retail presence, we make it easier and more convenient for consumers to learn about Cingular's cutting- edge wireless capabilities."

In addition to the retail expansion, the company is also adding new cell sites throughout Eastern N.C. as part of this year's $55 million North Carolina network expansion campaign. The 2004 investment includes the addition of almost 70 new cell sites and enhancements to existing sites in the Eastern half of the state which will enhance call quality, increase capacity and extend the network's footprint. Of the 26 new sites planned for the fourth quarter, 17 are being activated in December. "Network quality is a priority at Cingular, so over the past three years we have invested more than $300 million in our North Carolina network," Forsyth said. Cingular, the nation's largest wireless carrier, has the largest digital voice and data network in America.

In December, Cingular is boosting wireless coverage in the following areas of Eastern N.C.:

Goldsboro-Kinston Market
- In Snow Hill
- Along US Highway 258 Northwest of Kinston

Raleigh-Durham Market
- Along US Highway 1 near Tramway just south of Sanford
- Along Highway 42 east of I-40 near Austin Pond area
- Residential areas south of Wake Forest near intersection of Forestville
and Burlington Mills Roads
- Along Highway 210 between I-40 and the town of Angier
- In the town of Bunn
- U.S. Highway 421 just south of Siler City
- U.S. Highway 421 west of Lillington

Fayetteville-Lumberton Market
- Highway 87 in Fayetteville between I-95 and I-95 Business
- In the Rockfish area just west of Hope Mills
- Near the intersection of I-95 & Highway 53
- Along Highway 211 west of Raeford near Timberland area
- US Highway 1 just north of Southern Pines

Greenville-Washington Market
- Residential areas southeast of Greenville, NC near Highway 43 and
Worthington Road intersection
- In Williamston

Wilmington Market
- In Wilmington near the intersection of Kerr Avenue and Market Street

Sites added recently improve coverage in the following areas:
- In South Goldsboro and along US Highway 70 Bypass in Goldsboro near
North Park
- Along I-95 between the towns of Dunn and Benson
- I-40 and Highway 50 north of Benson
- Residential areas along Buffalo Road east of Raleigh
- Along US Highway 421 between Clinton and Spivey's Corner
- Willis Landing/Bear Creek area east of Camp Lejeune


Cingular operates a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network in the Carolinas. GSM is the Global System for Mobile Communications, giving customers the latest technology advances, including phones with greater functionality and unique features, high-speed data connectivity and superior sound quality. With almost 1 billion people in 200-plus countries using GSM technology, more than 70% of the world's total wireless market is GSM.

What GSM delivers for voice, EDGE technology delivers for data. EDGE is a high-speed wireless data service which gives customers true "third generation" (3G) wireless data services with data speeds typically three times faster than what was available on GPRS.

The Raleigh store grand-opening activities and ribbon-cutting will take place December 3 at 4 pm with special guest speaker Harvey Schmitt, President of Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The public is invited to enjoy free refreshments, register for a drawing for a free new Motorola RAZR V3 and do some early Christmas shopping.

Cingular has hired five employees to staff its newest store which will be managed by Robert Newhart, a Raleigh resident of 10-plus years. The company employs about 110 people in the Raleigh area.

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 46 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC - News) and BellSouth (NYSE: BLS - News), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), 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://www.cingular.com/newsroom .

[jones]

you can subscribe

http://www.cingular.com/send_news

[WirelessBeachBum]

Originally Posted by Frederic A. Moritz

I wonder if you can give me any clues as to whether Cingular will actually expand cell coverage of coastal n. Carolina further to the east, ie. Elizabeth City, Hyde County, Outer Banks, Oriental, those areas of that region where US Cellular is the primary carrier.

Many thanks,

Fred Moritz
fm@worldlymind.org

I'm not sure about Cingular's expansion plans for that area, I do however know that Verizon is building several Hundred sites this year in eastern north carolina and expanding it's footprint to cover much of the rest of NC they already don't cover.