FORT WORTH, Texas and ATLANTA, Ga. – January 2, 2006 – RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH), the nation’s most trusted consumer electronics specialty retailer, today announced the immediate availability of Cingular Wireless products and services in more than 5,000 convenient neighborhood RadioShack stores across the United States. This includes almost 500 RadioShack dealer/franchise outlets that are also offering Cingular products and services.
Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T Inc., (NYSE: T) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), is selling its full line of post-paid products and GoPhone pre-paid products through these RadioShack stores as of January 1. Cingular has the nation’s largest digital voice and data network and is the nation's largest wireless company, with more than 52.3 million customers.
"We’ve been diligently planning for months to effectively and efficiently manage the addition of Cingular to our wireless family,” said David Edmondson, RadioShack’s president and chief executive officer. “We’re excited that our customers now have access to Cingular’s exciting new technologies, handsets and competitive wireless plans.”
The 10-year distribution agreement, which was first announced in August 2005, provides significant benefits to both companies. The agreement gives RadioShack sales associates the opportunity to provide wireless customers with the hottest products in wireless, including the black Motorola V3 RAZR, and GoPhone, one of the fastest growing prepaid brands in the United States. For Cingular, the agreement makes RadioShack its single largest distribution outlet.
“With Cingular now available in more than 5,000 RadioShack company and dealer franchise stores, wireless consumers have unprecedented access to Cingular products and services,” said Cingular Chief Operating Officer Ralph de la Vega. “RadioShack’s team of knowledgeable salespeople has an unparalleled understanding of wireless products and customer service, which is evident by recent surveys rating them as number one in customer wireless satisfaction. We are excited about giving wireless users this new avenue in buying, upgrading or enhancing their Cingular service.”
RadioShack officials say its sales associates went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure stores were fully converted overnight on New Year’s Eve with new Cingular displays and products. These stores now feature a wide-ranging inventory of Cingular phones, accessories, extensively branding elements and signage. Likewise, RadioShack sales associates nationwide have been fully training to ensure they can provide all visitors to RadioShack stores with accurate and helpful information about Cingular products and services.
“While the overnight conversion of more than 5,000 stores may have seemed daunting for people outside our company, this isn’t the first time we’ve had to manage such a massive undertaking,” said Edmondson. “We attribute the successful transformation to many factors, including the senior leadership on the transition team, our home office employees who worked through every contingency possible, and our store employees who performed admirably during our busiest sales time of the year to make the transition seamless to the eyes of the customers. We also have the utmost admiration for our new partner, Cingular, who worked hand-in-hand with us every step of the way to allow us to hit the ground running on January 1.”
To celebrate the new Cingular alliance, RadioShack is planning several compelling product offers during the next few weeks. Starting Jan. 1 and running through Jan. 7, customers have the opportunity to purchase one of the hottest wireless handsets, the Motorola RAZR phone, and get a free Motorola Bluetooth headset for a net price of only $29.99 after instant and mail-in rebates and with a new two-year activation. Supplies are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
