Major Restoration Effort Continues in Hard-Hit Louisiana and Other Gulf Coast States

DALLAS, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) today said the company's major restoration efforts continue in hard-hitLouisiana and other Gulf Coast states in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.

Service Restoration

Overall, the company's wireless and wireline networks continue to perform well even under increased traffic from wireless, voice, and text messaging traffic. AT&T has deployed more than 2,500 technicians and engineers across Louisiana,Mississippi,Alabama andTexas to continue assessing storm damage and restoring service to customers in affected areas. The majority of AT&T personnel are focused on hard-hitLouisiana, particularly in accessible areas ofBaton Rouge,Houma,Lafayette,Lake Charles, Northshore and Coastal parishes.

    In Louisiana, as of 9 a.m.:
    -- The vast majority of wireless cell sites are operational.  In the
       hardest-hit areas of Baton Rouge and Greater New Orleans (including
       Plaquemines, Lafourche and Terrebone parishes), AT&T strike teams are
       quickly assessing damage to cell sites, providing back-up power as
       needed, and restoring service.
    -- All central switching offices are operational, but power issues still
       exist in some areas.  As of this morning, 60 central offices are on
       battery or generator power.
    -- Ninety-six percent of remote terminals, which provide broadband service
       to neighborhoods throughout Louisiana, are operational.  While many
       remote terminals are still operating on battery or generator power,
       AT&T technicians have restored hundreds of units to commercial power.
    -- Nearly 1,000 portable generators have been deployed across the state.

AT&T's top priority is to restore affected cell sites and remote terminals to full capacity as quickly and safely as possible.

Lack of commercial power persists in many areas of the state. AT&T estimates it is using 85,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day to operate generators powering wireless cell sites, central offices and remote terminals.

Based on AT&T's experience with natural disasters of this magnitude, the company anticipates there will be reports of service outages as residents and business owners return to their homes and businesses in the coming days.

Preparing for Hanna and Ike

AT&T is taking steps to prepare equipment and facilities for a potential strike by Tropical Storm Hanna, which is forecast to strengthen to hurricane status and could threaten the Southeastern coast ofthe United States, and is closely watching the track of Hurricane Ike. The company is identifying areas for the staging of equipment for post-storm response, testing high-capacity backup batteries and topping off fuel for generators positioned at cell sites and switching centers.

Support in Disaster Areas

AT&T is providing support for the American Red Cross and other government agencies to aid the overall disaster relief effort in the storm-impacted areas by:

    -- Encouraging its customers to send $5 donations to the American Red
       Cross Disaster Relief Fund by sending a text message from their mobile
       phones. A customer simply types the keyword GIVE to 2HELP (24357). A
       confirmation message will arrive within a few minutes, and the customer
       then replies YES to confirm his or her donation.
    -- Donating $200,000 this year, in addition to the generosity of its
       customers, to the American Red Cross for emergency relief as part of a
       five-year, $1 million commitment.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services inthe United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services and the nation's leading wireless, high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of its three-screen integration strategy, AT&T is expanding its TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

(C) 2008 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies.

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.

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