BellSouth's Charleston area network weathers Hurricane Charley.

M2 PRESSWIRE-16 August 2004-BELLSOUTH: BellSouth's Charleston area network weathers Hurricane Charley(C)1994-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:08142004

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - While approximately five of BellSouth's telecommunications facilities remain on emergency back-up power, the company`s network has withstood the heavy winds and rains of Hurricane Charley and remains in service to its nearly 260,000 customers across the Lowcountry.

"BellSouth suffered no widespread service outages in the Lowcountry as a result of Charley," said Mel Frick, BellSouth's director of Network Operations in the region. "Our emergency preparations are paying off again as we have kept almost all of our major network systems in service through the storm. We`re also fortunate that Charley wasn`t a more powerful storm when it passed by Charleston."

At the height of the storm Saturday morning, approximately 80 electronic systems, equipment huts and other major facilities were on back-up battery or generator power so that telecommunications service could be maintained.

Commercial power has been restored to most of the equipment. Only a handful of facilities remain on generator or battery power.

"Roughly 300 customers are without BellSouth service at this time. We expect to restore most service by the end of this weekend," said Frick.

As usual after a major storm, BellSouth crews are working to make sure the critical points of the network are stable and providing service. The company will then turn more attention to individual customer service outages, such as downed drop wires and smaller cables in neighborhoods.

"Our network in the Lowcountry has a significant amount of underground fiber optic cable, which is moisture and wind damage resistant," said Ted Creech, BellSouth regional director.

"The telecommunications industry has changed dramatically during the past few years with new technologies and services and intense competition," Creech said. "One constant is our employees' dedication to disaster readiness and maintenance of the public network. This ensures reliable access to 911 and needed voice and data services for hospitals, government and other important agencies and businesses."

To further ensure reliability, the BellSouth network also includes SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) rings that provide instantaneous network redundancy or instantaneous backup connections in the possible event of a fault. And in the rare event of a damaged cable due to storms or flooding, BellSouth maintains radio equipment to regenerate communications signals wherever necessary.

About BellSouth Corporation

BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest wireless voice and data provider.

Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth AnswersSM, residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth RealPages.comSM and The Real Yellow Pages .

More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com.

CONTACT: Ted CreechTel: +1 843 722 5111e-mail: ted.creech@bellsouth.com

((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data prepared by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).