Cellular South Mobilized for Hurricane Gustav Impacts

Jackson, MS - (August 31, 2008) - 4:30 PM CST – JACKSON, Miss. (August 31, 2008), 4:30 p.m. CST – Today's briefing from Cellular South, the nation's largest privately held wireless provider, on response to Hurricane Gustav:

NETWORK

• Handling dramatic increase in call volumes from customers in Gulf Coast counties without any problems.
• Logged 6.8 million minutes of use and over 3 million calls on Saturday with virtually no dropped calls.
• Volumes represented a 39 percent increase over normal levels, but due to preparation for increased capacity, higher volumes were managed without any issues.

EMPLOYEES

• 1,000-member workforce placed on high alert with emergency and disaster schedules developed to meet customer demands before, during and after the hurricane.
• Employees in immediate areas of danger from hurricane and flash flooding have been evacuated.
• Retail operations and network services have staged employees and equipment to quickly move into hurricane- impacted areas and help restore service and provide assistance to victims and evacuees.

RESOURCES

• Company is offering phones and service for emergency response agencies in advance of the hurricane.
• Provided hundreds of mobile phones to local and state emergency response agencies and the American Red Cross for essential communications in storm-impacted areas.
• Launched a website at www.cellularsouth.com/hurricane to help customers prepare for the hurricane and its aftermath. The site provides links and vital information and resources on weather, traffic, hotel accommodations and gasoline prices for storm victims.

Notes

• For updates, call #STORM (78676) from your Cellular South phones, call toll-free 1.888.276.8845 or check www.cellularsouth.com/hurricane.