Since Cingular is now AT&T, register your SIM card as a Go phone.
You can still buy Cingular products from places such as eBay and online discount prepaid cell phone stores, but you will need to register the SIM card for a Cingular Pay as You Go phone with the AT&T Go phone service. The SIM card in your prepaid phone not only holds your contacts list and SMS messages, but is also how the cell phone provider knows to provide service to your phone. Registering a SIM card is easy.
Instructions
1. Take your SIM card out of its packaging but do not "punch" the card out of its holder. Your SIM card is set in a credit card sized holder; the information you will need to register the card is written on the holder.
2. Go to AT&T's wireless registration site online to the page where you will register your SIM card with AT&T. Cingular is now part of AT&T.
3. Look at the bottom bar code on the SIM card holder (it is also the longest bar code on the card). Read the number that is written beneath it. Type the entire number in the SIM card "Number" box on the Web page. Click on the button on the lower right that says "Continue."
4. Enter your contact information on the next screen. You will be able to choose whether or not you want to register a credit card for automatic refilling of your minutes on this screen as well. When you are done, click on the "Continue" button. Wait for the next screen to load before you continue.
5. Enter the ESN (Electronic Serial Number) or MEI (Mobile Electronic Identification number, which you will have depending on your phone model) on the next screen. You can find these numbers in the documentation that came with your Cingular Pay as You Go phone or, remove the battery and the number will be listed on a plate on the inside of the phone. Click on "Continue."
6. Write down the phone number that is printed on the next screen. This is your phone number.
7. Punch the SIM card out of the card holder. Remove the back of your phone and the battery, if not already removed, and insert the SIM card into the SIM holder. The holder is a small metal clip---there will be an icon of a SIM card or a fake SIM in it to let you know where it is in the phone. Make sure that the gold metal side of the center part of the SIM card is facing down into the phone. Replace the battery and turn on your phone. It can take up to 48 hours for your service to begin.
Tags: your phone, next screen, card holder, your card, cell phone, Cingular phone, code card