Cingular Wireless Completes Capitol Hill Network Expansion Project (News Release)   - 1,559 Views,

WASHINGTON, June 8 /PRNewswire/ — Starting today, Cingular Wireless
customers visiting the United States Senate will experience improved wireless
coverage as a result of a newly launched in-building antenna system. This
means that Cingular customers can now make and receive calls throughout the
Senate portion of the Capitol, along with the Russell, Hart, and Dirksen
Senate Office Buildings. Customers will also have improved wireless service
in the pedestrian and train tunnels between the administrative buildings and
the Capitol, as well as in the Postal Square building.
The network enhancements on the Senate side of the Capitol mark the second
phase of Cingular’s Capitol Hill project, which brought wireless service to
the House of Representatives last year. A similar in-building system allows
Cingular to offer quality wireless service in the Cannon, Longworth, and
Rayburn House of Representatives Office Buildings as well as the tunnels and
parking decks below. In-building wireless service has been available in the
House Office Buildings since October 2004.
Cingular’s investment in the US Senate is part of the company’s ongoing
effort to extend Cingular’s coverage area and to give customers more
consistent access to the Cingular Wireless network in and around the US
Capitol, where thousands of people, including legislators, staff, government
agencies, lobbyists and tourists, visit every day.
Recently, Cingular Wireless has undertaken several network initiatives to
improve in-building coverage including projects at the Environmental
Protection Agency and Ronald Reagan Building, Federal Communications
Commission, AARP and MCI Center. Cingular also augmented existing coverage in
the downtown, DC area in 2004 to enhance service quality by adding 9 new cell
sites and deploying software to existing sites to boost capacity. The company
has additional network enhancements planned for 2005.
“We know that our customers’ number one priority is being able to make a
call when they want and where they want,” said Frank T. Iovino, vice president
and general manager of Cingular Wireless in Maryland, DC and Northern
Virginia, “That’s why Cingular is committed to making our great network even
better — not just in the nation’s capitol, but across the country.”
Last year, Cingular spent more than $120 million implementing an advanced
EDGE data network and enhancing voice coverage and capacity throughout
Maryland, DC and Virginia. 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 this technology, more than 70% of the world’s total
wireless market is GSM. And what GSM delivers for voice, EDGE technology
delivers for data. EDGE is a software enhancement for Cingular’s General
Packet Radio Service (GPRS) data network that can support peak data rates up
to 170 kilobits per second with average data rates of 75-135 Kbps. Cingular
Wireless was the first carrier in North America to launch EDGE in June 2003.
It provides consumers with “always-on” connectivity, greater bandwidth and
faster connection speed — all from a wireless phone.
In addition to network enhancements on Capitol Hill, Cingular Wireless is
also expanding retail distribution. The company recently opened a new Capitol
Hill location at 1730 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Cingular has nine company-
owned retail stores and more than a dozen authorized agent locations in the
city of Washington.
“Cingular made tremendous strides in 2004, doubling the size of our
network with our merger with AT&T Wireless and the addition of another 140 new
cell sites in Washington/Baltimore market,” said Iovino. “We have more big
plans for 2005, including several more in-building coverage projects,
deploying more cell sites and continuing the integration of our two networks.
Our focus is on ensuring that our Washington area customers have the very best
wireless experience possible, both in terms of network quality and superior
customer service.”