In 1983, a small crowd gathered in Chicago to launch the nation's first citywide cellular service. Now, 23 years later, another seminal event in wireless history is taking place in the same city - the completion of Cingular's GSM network integration, which began shortly after the merger of Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless in October 2004. Cingular completed its GSM network integration by reusing existing assets, working closely with vendors, and minimizing site visits by technicians.
"It seems appropriate that the city where wireless began is the completion point for our network integration," said Ralph de la Vega, chief operating officer for Cingular. "Offering a superior network experience, exclusive products and services, and competitive pricing helped Cingular produce continuously improving results, including record profits, some of the industry's highest net customer additions and extremely low churn."
The result of the integration currently gives customers access to nearly 47,000 cell sites throughout the country. The network integration was one of several initiatives the company funded as part of its US$13 billion 2005/2006 capital investment to enhance network quality and coverage.
Throughout the integration process, hundreds of technicians from third- party testing companies, infrastructure vendors, and Cingular's own employees used specially designed vehicles to travel throughout the country testing the signal strength and coverage of the GSM network. Even before the network was fully integrated, data from these drive tests showed that Cingular customers could expect the fewest dropped calls of any wireless company.
"With integration complete, we're now focused on quickly offering 3G services in all of the top metropolitan markets and surrounding areas," said Reynolds. "We want our customers to have a similar broadband experience whether they're in their homes, at work, or at the park. Staying connected to information is great - getting it anytime, anywhere and at lightening-fast speeds is priceless."
Posted to the site on 4th October 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/19690.php