San Bernardino County Motorists Get 'Safe' With Cingular Wireless1 February 2005
More than 1,600 emergency call boxes located along freeways in San Bernardino County will receive an extreme makeover with GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless phone service from Cingular Wireless under the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE) program.
San Bernardino is the first county in California's statewide SAFE program to begin replacing the first-generation analog wireless services currently used in call boxes with GSM. GSM is the world standard for wireless technology, and Cingular's GSM network is the largest digital wireless voice and data network in the U.S.
The call box upgrade will improve motorist safety by providing a clearer, more reliable connection when summoning help, transportation officials explained.
"It is imperative for the safety of the millions of drivers who travel on the county's freeways that they have the most modern wireless communications technology available to them when using call boxes during emergency situations," said Paul Biane, president of San Bernardino Associated Governments, which serves as the SAFE for the county.
"Our upgrade to Cingular's GSM network in call boxes countywide will provide motorists with a clearer, more reliable connection when speaking with our Call Answering Center. This will help operators get the information they need the first time, so that help will arrive as quickly as possible."
Each call box contains a battery-powered, solar-charged wireless phone that connects automatically with a Call Answering Center and provides operators with location information. The county's system of call boxes is operated in close coordination with both the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the California Highway Patrol (CHP), which dispatches police, fire and paramedic services.
"San Bernardino County's use of Cingular's state-of-the-art GSM services is another example of how thousands of government agencies and businesses of all sizes trust Cingular Wireless for their critical wireless communications needs," said Chris Hill, vice president, government solutions, for Cingular Wireless. "For these customers, wireless is not a 'nice-to-have,' it is a 'must-have.'"
Cingular Wireless counts more than 1,200 federal, state and local government agencies as customers. It also serves 95 of the Fortune 100 companies and more than 80 percent of the Fortune 500.
About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States, serving more than 49 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc.(NYSE: SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), has the largest digital voice and data network in the nation - the ALLOVER(SM) network - and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover(SM), the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes. Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com . Get Cingular Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at http://www.cingular.com/newsroom .
Source: PR Newswire via Yahoo
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