San Antonio, Texas, November 4, 2005 -- SBC Communications Inc. has announced a new contract to deliver optical networking and IP-based services to Ingalls Health System to help support clinical applications, such as Picture Archiving Computer Systems (PACS) for medical imaging. Ingalls Health System serves Chicago's south suburban residents with a variety of acute and tertiary health care services and includes Ingalls Memorial Hospital, three Family Care Centers, Ingalls Home Care, and Ingalls Center for Outpatient Rehabilitation.

Under the terms of the five-year contract, SBC companies will provide SBC PremierSERVSM Network-Based Virtual Private Network (NVPN), utilizing Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology, to all Ingalls locations for private and secure video and voice applications. SBC companies will also deliver SBC PremierSERVSM Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and OPT-E-MAN for additional bandwidth and redundancy to safely transmit Radiology images between the various Ingalls locations. SBC companies are the primary voice and data services provider for Ingalls Health System.

"We needed a secure and fully meshed IP-based network to support the transmission of our critical data, such as our medical images," said Mike Hicks, vice president for Ambulatory Services, Ingalls Health System. "With the help of SBC companies, our staff will be able to increase productivity and improve patient care thorough our new IP-based network."

"We look forward to providing mission-critical services to Ingalls Health System," said Vicki Jones, president, Business Communications Services, SBC Midwest. "Our SBC PremierSERV NVPN service and optical networking services will fully-support Ingalls' current networking needs while allowing capacity for future capabilities."