TDI Presents Cingular Wireless with Special Recognition Commemorating TDI's 35 Years Of Advocacy

SILVER SPRING, MD - In a fitting conclusion to the three-day 15th Biennial TDI International Conference in Las Vegas on July 16, 2003, commemorating the organization's 35th anniversary, TDI gave special recognition to Cingular Wireless as among the twelve companies and two educational institutions who have given extraordinary efforts in different areas promoting equal access to telecommunications and media for consumers who are deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened or deaf-blind.

During the appreciation night ceremony, TDI presented the painting "America" by renowned deaf artist, Chuck Baird, to Susan Mazrui, Director of Federal Regulatory Affairs at Cingular Wireless. "TDI commends Cingular Wireless for it's "hands-on" efforts to become one of the first wireless service providers to encourage handset manufacturers to make digital handsets TTY-compatible" said Claude Stout, TDI's Executive Director. "We recognize that it has taken special commitment and allocation of resources to introduce and offer accessible and useable services to all Americans. With new technologies, deaf and hard of hearing Americans can fulfill their potential as full, active participants in the general mainstream, regardless of differences in culture, language and communication."

Cingular Wireless has been at the forefront of the wireless telecommunications industry efforts to encourage hearing aid and TTY compatibility with digital handsets. In addition to those efforts, Cingular has maintained frequent collaboration with TDI on industry forums and in-house consumer advisory panels, as well as consumer product testing. Furthermore, they operate one of the most widely used pager networks through a number of affiliates. Cingular provides cellular/PCS services in 43 of the top 50 markets nationwide, and provides corporate e-mail and other advanced data services through its GPRS, EDGE and Mobitex packet data networks.

Mr. Stout adds, "It has been a special pleasure collaborating with Susan Mazrui and Ken Evans as Cingular Wireless and TDI pursue the same goals of equal access".

The award painting shows "America" in sign language. Both hands are interlocked together in a flag motif against a desert background. Chuck Baird (www.chuckbaird.com) says, "I like to think that the sign for "America" with both hands interlocked and moving around in a circle denotes a combination of both the American natives (round structures like tepees) and the white people (interlocked as log cabins) and symbolizes the integration of all races within our borders."

From the "America" painting, TDI draws the following analogies. The symbolism in the painting shows that consumers and professionals can work together as a community. The U.S. flag motif shows that the ADA and other legislation provided the impetus and that Cingular Wireless' contributions are felt throughout America. The interlocked fingers denote the wide variety of choices that come as a result of enhanced product and service offerings. The desert background shows the ongoing reality of inaccessible technology, but their contributions are making the desert blossom here and there until it becomes a fertile field.

Others who received the "America" painting award were: AOL, AT&T Relay, AT&T Wireless, Communication Services for the Deaf, Inc., Gallaudet University, Hamilton Relay, MCI Global Relay, Microsoft, National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology, SBC Telecommunications, Sprint Relay, Ultratec, Inc. and Verizon.

About TDI:  

Also known as Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc., TDI is a non-profit advocacy organization that promotes equal access to telecommunications and media for individuals who are deaf, late deafened, hard-of-hearing or deaf-blind. Since 1968, TDI has successfully advocated for federal legislation such as the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Television Decoder Act, both of 1990, as well as other legislation and policies mandating greater access to wireless technology, captioning as well as other telecommunication and media technologies. In between its biennial conferences, TDI publishes an annual National Directory & Resource Guide, commonly known as The Blue Book, a popular resource book for people with hearing loss, as well as The GA-SK quarterly news magazine. For more information about TDI, go to www.tdi-online.org.