Not too long after Cingular made the claim that it had the most reliable network, even claiming to beat out Verizon Wireless, it appears that now Cingular customers are experiencing significant network problems, and reporting their experiences here. The issue appears to be random (some users not experiencing problems, others basically having no service at all), and according to some Cingular reps, this is a nationwide phenomenon.
The outage has also generated buzz in many mainstream news outlets, most of it sarcastic and unflattering.
It’s well known that one of Cingular’s ancestors, AT&T Wireless, was considered having the worst network and customer service in the industry according to many of its customers, particularly towards the end of its life. Evidently, now that the “new” AT&T wants to retire the Cingular brand and AT&T Wireless back, they might also be trying to live up to the old reputation as well.
Update: Cingular customers are now indicating that they are seeing service return to normal. If you’re a Cingular customer and are still experiencing problems, try power cycling your phone.