Cingular Cell Phones

Cingular cell phones enable more than 60 million Americans to communicate. Many Cingular cell phone users have the option of calling each other for free which makes the service very attractive for both consumers and business. In addition to having millions of customers, Cingular cell phone users also have the advantage of receiving service from the largest cell phone service provider in the U.S.

Cingular cell phone users got a big boost when in 2004 Cingular won regulatory approval from the FCC to acquire AT&T Wireless, and completed the acquisition of 24 million customers giving them 48 million customers, making them the largest mobile phone carrier in the United States. Q2 2005 numbers, released on July 20, 2005, showed 51.6 million Cingular subscribers. They now have more than 60 million U.S. subscribers.

Some key facts for Cingular cell phone users:
Cingular, formed in 2001, is a joint venture of the American landline telephone companies SBC and BellSouth. The two companies hold 60% and 40% stakes in Cingular, respectively, based on the value of the assets each company contributed to the venture.
Cingular cell phone operations are currently headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. With regional offices throughout the United States.
Cingular cell phone users may expect to operate on a mixed network consisting of GSM, TDMA and AMPS which Cingular is working to convert to pure GSM/GPRS.
Cingular cell phone users may be able to currently utilize EDGE data services in certain areas.
With the acquisition of AT&T Wireless Cingular cell phone users may soon be able to utilize EDGE nationwide.
Cingular will soon be rolling out UMTS or W-CDMA High-Speed phones network.
Cingular cell phone users can now also take advantage of UTMS in selected cities - Seattle, Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay, while it should be rolled out in every major market sometime in 2006.

In California, Nevada, northern New Jersey and New York City, Cingular and T-Mobile USA maintained and shared a GSM-1900 network prior to the acquisition of AT&T Wireless, through a joint venture known as GSM Facilities.

The network sharing agreement allowed Cingular cell phone users to benefit from local service in northern New Jersey and New York City. T-Mobile cell phone users were offered service in California and Nevada. On May 25, 2004, Cingular and T-Mobile USA announced their intention to dissolve the agreement contingent on Cingular's successful acquisition of AT&T Wireless.

Cingular cell phone users calling into the Customer Care department should be aware that their call may be re-routed and handled by companies in Canada and overseas.