Government Contract for EDGE Data Services

Cingular Wireless has been designated by the State of Tennessee as the sole provider of high-speed wireless data services to all state agencies. This marks the third contract that Cingular has won from the State of Tennessee in the last 12 months.

To complement the voice and data services used by the state, Cingular recently completed a significant network enhancement in downtown Nashville. As a result, Cingular says that it is now the only wireless provider to offer in-building voice and data coverage to the State Capital, the War Memorial Building, Legislative Plaza and both levels of the underground parking garage.

Under the exclusive high-speed data contract, Cingular Wireless will provide the state with Sony Ericsson GC-83 PC modem cards -- enabled for Cingular's EDGE network -- for up to several thousand laptop computers used by state workers. Employees will use the state's Laptop Connect application in conjunction with Cingular's EDGE data services to remotely access in near real-time their daily schedules as well as information related to such areas as social services, probation, auditing and field reporting. The contract also gives local governments the opportunity to purchase GC-83 cards and EDGE service from Cingular.

To support its contracts with the State of Tennessee, Cingular enhanced its network in downtown Nashville.

"Legislative Plaza, the parking garage and the basement of the Capital Building are all located underground and previously had no coverage from any wireless carrier," said Bill Plantz, executive director, network operations, for Cingular Wireless - Tennessee/Kentucky. "To resolve this issue and to make the state's Cingular voice and data services more accessible, we installed cell site equipment in the parking garage and a dedicated antenna system throughout all of the state buildings."

Overall, Cingular installed 42 antennas covering thousands of square feet of office and conference room space, enabling the company to enhance the state's voice, BlackBerry and EDGE services. Any Cingular Wireless customer inside the buildings and parking garage will benefit from these network enhancements."

Posted to the site on 23rd May 2005