OKLAHOMA CITY, June 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Dobson Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:DCEL) announced today that it is closing its Fairbanks, Alaska call center and transferring the Fairbanks operations to its Duluth, Minnesota call center. The closure of the Fairbanks call center will result in the termination of 16 positions.
The Fairbanks call center served Dobson's CellularOne customers in Fairbanks and Juneau. Subscribers in Anchorage and Alaska Rural Service Area 2 have been served by the Minnesota call center since Dobson assumed operations management for these two new Alaska properties in late 2003.
The 16 call center employees affected by the closure have been offered severance packages, as well as the opportunity to transfer to other positions within Dobson Communications.
The Fairbanks call center was not technically sufficient given its aging equipment, and the Company decided that customer care for Alaska could be managed more effectively by consolidating that function in the Minnesota call center, which is equipped with state-of-the-art customer care technology and systems. In addition, Dobson said that it preferred to concentrate its capital investments in Alaska on upgrading its network technology and coverage. The Company is on schedule to complete the overlay of its networks in Alaska with 2.5-generation GSM/GPRS/EDGE technologies by the end of this month, which will enable it to provide improved wireless voice and much faster data services to its customers throughout the state.
Dobson will now operate call centers in Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Dobson Communications is a leading provider of wireless phone services to rural markets in the United States. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the Company owns wireless operations in 16 states. For additional information on the Company and its operations, please visit its Web site at www.dobson.net.