WASHINGTON—Cingular Wireless said has donated 1,500 mobile phones and dispatched portable base stations to aid search and rescue operations in connection with terrorist attacks in New York and the nation’s capital on Tuesday.
Clay Owen, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Cingular, said the firm’s Washington, D.C., wireless network experienced a 400-percent spike in attempted calls on Tuesday, when hijacked commercial airliners plowed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Owen said that while voice traffic in Cingular’s Washington, D.C., mobile telephone system was heavily taxed, the firm’s wireless data network in New York performed flawlessly. He noted, however, that eight wireless base stations in Manhattan are not working due to power loss.
Owen declined comment on whether law enforcement has approached Cingular with wiretap court orders as part of the U.S. government’s massive investigation. America Online Inc. and Earthlink Inc. reportedly have been served with subpoenas so that investigators can sift through e-mails for clues. Tuesday’s terrorist attack is expected to re-ignite debate in policy circles between privacy and national security advocates.
