Cingular to Offer Music Downloads

At a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York on Thursday, Cingular chief operating officer Ralph de la Vega told Reuters the company was ramping up to launch a music service in 2006, which would utilize high-speed wireless technology to download songs over the air.

Cingular was the first U.S. carrier to offer the Motorola ROKR iTunes phone, and de la Vega said he hoped the new service would involve Apple as well. However, it's not clear if wireless downloads will appeal to consumers who have flocked to iTunes, as Cingular expects to charge more for each song.