ATLANTA, March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless is bringing all of the thrills of NCAA® March Madness® to the wireless handset this year, including exclusive video highlights from CBS Sports. And with Cingular's new MEdia Net NCAA® March Madness® Portal, college basketball fans will have touch-of-a-button access to everything going on in The Big Dance®, including the latest official scoring updates and comprehensive tournament bracket management. The Portal will provide many of Cingular's more than 54 million customers with personalized NCAA® March Madness® access to all the nail- biting tournament action that's unavailable from any other wireless carrier.
Cingular is the exclusive provider of NCAA Tournament wireless broadband video game highlights. Cingular customers with high-speed capable (3G) phones in select markets will be able to view action-packed NCAA Tournament video highlights branded as Cingular at the Half® from CBS Sports, the exclusive network broadcaster of the 2006 NCAA® Division I Men's Basketball Championship, including the Men's Final Four®. From the opening round all the way through the national championship game, two-minute video clips covering all 64 games will be packaged and delivered to the handsets of Cingular customers twice-daily during each day of the tournament, ensuring that they never miss the biggest plays of the games.
The Cingular MEdia Net NCAA® March Madness® Portal will also feature in-depth information, such as top tournament news stories, scoring updates and individual team tracking capabilities for all 65 teams. Another Portal exclusive will be the Cingular Bracket Challenge!, which, for the first time ever, will give wireless users the power to make, track and manage their tournament bracket entirely from their wireless handset. Customers who participate in the Cingular Bracket Challenge! will compete against each other for a chance to win a brand new 2006 Pontiac Torrent. In addition, fans who fill out brackets on CBS Sportsline.com can receive game updates and score tracking for their leagues with regular text message alerts throughout each round of the NCAA Tournament.
"The Cingular MEdia Net NCAA March Madness Portal allows fans to experience all the excitement of the NCAA Tournament in the palm of their hand, from Selection Sunday all the way through the Men's Final Four," said David Garver, executive director of high growth segments and sponsorships at Cingular Wireless. "This is yet another example of how we are able to provide official interactive content around a marquee sports property and use it to create a memorable and authentic wireless experience for our customers."
The Cingular MEdia Net NCAA® March Madness® Portal and Bracket Challenge are powered by Crisp Wireless and the mLogic platform. Additional features include challenging NCAA basketball trivia questions for the chance to win $5,000,000 at the Men's Final Four® in Indianapolis, an exciting Mobile Hoops Game, and downloadable official school ringtones and wallpaper logos.
Customers can access the Cingular MEdia Net NCAA® March Madness® Portal on their wireless handset by launching the MEdia Net option and then visiting the main Sports home page. There is no subscription fee to access the Portal but standard MEdia Net data usage charges apply. For more information on the NCAA® March Madness® Portal, visit cingularsource.com/ncaa. Cingular is an Official NCAA Corporate Champion.
How to Get Cingular Video
Cingular Video uses the power of 3G phones as well as Cingular's new high- speed 3G wireless broadband network. Cingular Video will initially be available in the markets of Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tacoma and Washington, D.C. Additional 3G markets will be rolled out throughout the year. Cingular currently offers 3G service on the LG CU320 or Samsung SGH-ZX10 handsets and will add the Nokia 6282 and LG CU500 to its 3G product line later this spring.
Prices for Cingular 3G handsets start at $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate for a two-year service plan commitment. Cingular Video requires a $19.99 MEdia Net Unlimited data package. Premium content, such as HBO Mobile, is available on a monthly subscription basis, while other content, such as music video clips from Music Choice, is available on a pay-per-view basis for a 24-hour period of time.
