It simply means you are not on the Cingular Network..... if you are on a relitivly new nation plan... dont worry about it... you have no roaming..

grab one of your bills and if you see anything with PERFERRED NATION on there... you are roaming while in extend.

but if you're on a TRUE NATION plan or anything that has included unlimited or 1000 mobile to mobile, you're covered.
If you are nervous about extend, call customer care and find out what plan you're on and have that rep explain it to you if you need further assistance.

Yeah, I'm on the 39.99 Nation 450 with Rollover plan. I should have nothing to worry about right? It's just weird because it's never said "Cingular Extend" before, and ESPECIALLY since I was at my own house!

Thanks for the replies guys.

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grab one of your bills and if you see anything with PERFERRED NATION on there... you are roaming while in extend.

but if you're on a TRUE NATION plan or anything that has included unlimited or 1000 mobile to mobile, you're covered.
If you are nervous about extend, call customer care and find out what plan you're on and have that rep explain it to you if you need further assistance.

We'll also soon be getting rid of the Cingular Extend alpha tags on GSM phones. All you'll soon be seeing is Cingular on your handset, so be sure to know your own personal coverage footprint.

I have a new 39.99 FT Nation Plan, and for the past few days, I get CINGULAR EXTEND on my phone while still near home.

I know this isn't roaming for me, but if I'm seeing it so close to home now, could this be because of the upcoming merger/AT&T towers?

THAT IS CORRECT. YOU WILL SEE THAT MESSAGE WHEN YOU USING ATT NETWORK.

Is that because of the upcoming acquisition since I never saw it before right in my neighborhood?

And, would this now be avoided if I had a new 64K SIM vs. my 32K SIM?

Actual it has nothign to do with the phone itself, after the merger is complete and with some time it will be seemless and you will no longer see that message when hitting up ATT towers. Its a Alpha designator that was orginaly used to let people who had regional plans know they where "roaming" but since most people now have National plans, you will see less and less of the "Cingular Extended" message.

Thanks, good to know. 😁

Pretty soon you should be seeing nothing of the "Cingular Extend" alpha tag. They announced it's removal along with the introduction of the 64K SIMs, so it should be gone pretty soon.

And that is even if I don't have a 64K SIM?

Yep, they'll all be changed. Hopefully soon because I'm getting a lot of calls from people asking if they're roaming...