Cigular Rises As ATTWS Falls

AT&T Wireless reported a sharp drop in its subscriber base, at the same time that its future parent company, Cingular has reported rising numbers. For the three months ended March 31, 2004, Cingular achieved net subscriber additions of 554,000, bringing its nationwide cellular/PCS customer base to 24.6 million - up 2.5 million over the past four quarters. Meanwhile, AT&T Wireless reported a net loss of 367,000 subscribers, compared to a gain of 257,000 a year ago.

AT&T Wireless ended the quarter with 21.692 million subscribers, so the merged company would have 46.292 million customers.

At the end of the first quarter, Cingular's GSM/GPRS network was available to 94% of the company's operational POPs, up from approximately 56% a year earlier. Cingular now expects to achieve 100% GSM/GPRS network coverage by July of this year.

At the end of the first quarter, more than 53% of Cingular's handsets in service were GSM capable, up from 22 percent a year earlier and 45 percent at the end of 2003. Approximately 66 percent of Cingular's total minutes are now carried on its GSM network. GSM provides the truest voice quality in wireless.

On a separate matter, the company said that AT&T Wireless, SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., have received requests from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for additional information and documentary material with respect to the acquisition of AT&T Wireless by Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC and BellSouth. As a result, AT&T Wireless said the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act has been extended until the 30th day after the date of compliance with the request by each of the companies, unless earlier terminated by the DOJ."

Posted to the site on 21st April 2004