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Sprint Update on Phone Restoration in Florida Friday, August 20, 2004, 3:30 P.M. ET.

Posted on: Friday, 20 August 2004, 06:00 CDT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Service Improving

Sprint estimates 29,000 customers are without phone service in Florida. Only 8,700 of these out-of-service conditions are related to network issues such as lack of power. As customers return to residences and business and report individual outages due to storm damage, these numbers could change up or down.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO )

Breakdown by district:

Avon Park (Charlotte, Highlands, Hardee, DeSoto, Okeechobee counties)

18,458 customers out of service;

2,545 customer trouble reports

Ft. Myers/Naples (Lee and Collier counties)

531 customers out of service

3917 customer trouble reports

(Editor's note: Please be aware that there may be overlap in the number of customers out of service and customer trouble reports.)

Sprint's Central Florida districts are operational on commercial or auxiliary power. Customer impact is based on trouble reports.

Winter Garden District (Osceola County, Apopka in Orange County)

2,350 customer trouble reports

Winter Park District (Orange, Seminole, portions of Volusia county)

1,480 customer trouble reports

Customers can call either of the following phone numbers to report outages:

-- 1-800-788-3600 or visit http://www.sprint.com/ to report service

problems

-- 1-888-723-8010 if they need service for temporary living arrangements

"Our dedicated Sprint technicians will work throughout the weekend on this massive service restoration project," said Charles Rehwinkel, vice president - External Affairs, Sprint. "In areas where Sprint's infrastructure is operational, our crews will be respond to trouble reports and sweep accessible neighborhoods in search of additional damage to our systems."

Earlier this week Sprint also brought in an additional 250 workers to assist local efforts in restoring service to the hardest hit areas.

Sprint's wireless network in areas impacted by the hurricane is nearly 100% operational. Sprint's wireless operations are back to business as usual. Meanwhile, Sprint technicians will be canvassing the network over the next couple of weeks to ensure cell tower repeaters are optimized.

Tips for Customers

Sprint is encouraging its local customers to try a little "trouble shooting" before they call in a trouble ticket on their phone line. Here are some recommendations on phone problems and possible fixes for phones that appear out of service:

Cordless phones will not work during a commercial power outage. Use a traditional corded telephone or a wireless phone.

Customers hearing noise and static on their telephone line should disconnect all of their telephones and related equipment (answering machines, computers, fax, caller-ID devices, etc.) and wait at least one minute before reconnecting each of the devices one at a time to see if the trouble still exists. Check for dial tone as each phone is plugged in. If the problem stops, it is most likely associated with a specific telephone or related equipment.

Customer that aren't receiving incoming calls even though they have dial tone should try deactivating the call-forwarding feature that might have inadvertently been activated. Customer should try dialing *73 (or 1173 from a rotary-dial telephone) to disable this feature.

Connecting Customers

Sprint has installed a mobile pay phone station in Punta Gorda and is offering free local calls. The mobile unit is located at the corner of Nesbitt and Olympia Avenue, in the parking lot of the former U-Save grocery store. Additionally, all fixed Sprint pay phones throughout Charlotte, Highlands, Hardee, Polk, DeSoto, Okeechobee and Sarasota are offering free local calling and Sprint technicians are installing more pay phone stations throughout the area. Evacuees staying at the TECO Arena shelter in Estero can also make free local calls from Sprint pay phones. Customers may dial 888-800-CALL to assist with long-distance calls.

Sprint Stores

All Sprint retail stores in Florida are open for sales and customer service on equipment. Customers without phone service are invited to visit one of the Sprint retail stores located at 2710 DelPrado in Cape Coral, 10600 Tamiami Trail North or 2174 Tamiami Trail in Naples, and 10960 South Cleveland Avenue in Ft. Myers.

Caution to Customers Cleaning Up

Sprint asks customers who are cleaning up their homes and neighborhoods to avoid piling refuse and debris for garbage pickup near telephone terminals located curbside on neighborhood streets. This will help avoid front-end loaders and other large machinery from potentially damaging Sprint equipment during pick-up service.

About Sprint

Sprint is a global integrated communications provider serving more than 26 million customers in over 100 countries. With more than 61,000 employees worldwide and over $26 billion in annual revenues in 2003, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local communications services in 39 states and the District of Columbia and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/ .

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840

Sprint

CONTACT: Media, Jeff Mechlin, +1-863-873-6168 (Charlotte County),jeff.mechlin@mail.sprint.com , Steve Personette, +1-239-281-6383 (Lee, CollierCounties), steve.personette@mail.sprint.com , Dan Peterson, +1-407-758-2491(Orlando area), dan.peterson@mail.sprint.com , Nanci Schwartz,+1-305-788-8256, nanci.p.schwartz@mail.sprint.com , or Charles Fleckenstein,+1-913-226-4132, Charles.m.fleckenstein@mail.sprint.com , all of Sprint

Web site: http://www.sprint.com/

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