Cellular South Manages Increased Call Volumes Caused By Hurricane Gustav

Ridgeland, MS - (September 2, 2008) – – Cellular South's wireless communications network experienced a surge in traffic in the last 72 hours as residents and emergency responders prepared for Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall Monday about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans.

A summary of Cellular South's network performance, its coordination with local and state emergency response agencies and storm resources is provided below:

NETWORK

KEY MESSAGE: Dramatic increase in call volumes from Gulf Coast customers without significant problems
• Logged 46 million minutes of use by customers in the storm-impacted areas over the last three days, which is a dramatic increase in normal call volume
• Almost 99% of the company’s network is operational in the impacted areas with very minor customer impact
• Due to infrastructure preparation and investments, the network continues to handle high volumes of voice calls and data usage from hurricane and storm-impacted areas without significant issues
• The microwave ring built along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Hattiesburg areas after Hurricane Katrina helped deliver calls to their final destination in areas where traditional land-line service was impacted by the storm
• Network and engineering crews with additional back up power sources and mobile units were dispatched immediately to the storm-impacted areas

RESPONSE

KEY MESSAGE: Supported state and local emergency response efforts and donated phones, service and food
• Company representatives assigned to the Mississippi Emergency Operations Center continued to respond to requests for wireless communications assistance from local and state government and emergency response agencies, including the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and the office of Gov. Haley Barbour
• Cellular South is the official wireless communications carrier for all state agencies and employees in Mississippi
• Company has provided hundreds of mobile phones and service to local and state emergency response agencies and the American Red Cross
• Cellular South is donating $10,000 worth of food and supplies to the Salvation Army to help storm-impacted residents who were evacuated to shelters

RESOURCES

KEY MESSAGE: Created website with timely information and resources to help customers and storm victims
• Cellular South has established a website with timely information and resources to help customers and the general public deal with Hurricane Gustav and its aftermath. The site, located at www.cellularsouth.com/hurricane , provides details on emergency shelters, weather updates, traffic conditions, power outages, gasoline availability and hotel accommodations for storm victims. For updates, call #STORM (78676) OR 1CSOUTH5 (1-888-276-8845)
• Cellular South has opened all retail store locations today in storm-impacted areas with normal business hours. These locations also are offering the public free phone calls and access to cell phone charging stations.