Cingular Offers Wireless Tips to Help Consumers Prepare for Winter Storms

TULSA, Okla., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless realizes the important role wireless communication plays in emergency situations, such as snow and ice storms, and offers the following tips to help consumers prepare:

* Program all emergency contact numbers into your wireless phone. Store numbers for the police department, fire station, hospital, as well as your family members so you don't have to think about it during and after an emergency.* Have a family communications plan in place. Designate someone out of the area as a central contact, and make certain all family members know

who to contact if they become separated.

* Keep your wireless phone batteries charged at all times. Use your car charger to charge your wireless phone when power is out, or pick up a disposable battery that will give you an hour of talk time without any charging.

* Keep your wireless phone dry and protected. The biggest threat is water

damage so keep your equipment safe from the elements by storing it in a

plastic sandwich or freezer bag.

* Try text messaging, or SMS (Short Messaging Service). Most wireless phones today are text messaging capable, and often times during an emergency situation text messages will go through quicker than voice calls. More importantly, using text messaging helps free up the voice lines for emergency officials.

* Keep non-emergency calls to a minimum. Remember to limit your calls to the most important ones. Chances are that if there is severe weather, many people will be attempting to place wireless calls to loved ones, friends and business associates. If the landline phones are not working, this probability increases.

* Wait 10 seconds before redialing a call. On many wireless phones, to redial a number, you simply push "send" after you've ended a call to redial the previous number. If you do this too quickly, the data from the phone to the cell sites does not have enough time to clear before you've resent the same data and may contribute to network congestion.

* Use your wireless phone to access weather information. Many homes lose power during severe weather. If you have a wireless phone that provides

access to the Internet, you can watch the Weather Channel and its new Severe Weather Mode service through our Mobi-TV service or though My- Cast Weather.

* If you have a camera phone, take, store and send photos of damaged property to your insurance company from your device.

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving 58.7 million customers. Cingular is solely owned by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), a premier communications holding company in the United States and worldwide. Cingular has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation - the ALLOVER™ network - and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is a leader in third generation wireless technology, featuring the first widely available HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) service in the world. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover®, the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/ .

SOURCE: Cingular Wireless