Exhibit 99.1
[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

Contact: Tom Dougherty
         President and Chief Executive Officer
         404-525-7272


               AIRGATE PCS, INC. APPOINTS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

ATLANTA (July 13, 2004) - AirGate PCS, Inc., (Nasdaq/NM: PCSA), a PCS Affiliate
of Sprint, today announced that it has appointed William J. Loughman as Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer.

Prior to joining AirGate, Mr. Loughman served as President and Chief Executive
Officer of Baran Telecom (formerly o2wireless Solutions) in Atlanta. During his
tenure there, he also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial
Officer. Mr. Loughman was the former General Manager for AT&T Wireless in
Atlanta and Director of Business Development for the Southeast region. His
previous positions include Director of Operations in Europe and the Middle East
for Motorola; Vice President - Finance and Executive Director for Bell Atlantic
Mobile; Vice President, Controller for Metro Mobile CTS, Inc.; and Controller
for Cellular One in New York.

Mr. Loughman received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Iona
College in New Rochelle, New York, and a Master of Business Administration
degree from Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York.

"Bill brings a broad range of operational and financial management experience to
AirGate," said Thomas M. Dougherty, President and Chief Executive Officer of
AirGate PCS. "His extensive background in the wireless industry, particularly in
the Carolinas, makes him an excellent addition to our management team. With the
completion of our debt restructuring, we now are focused on growing our
subscriber base and providing quality Sprint PCS products and services to
subscribers in our territory in the most efficient manner possible. We look
forward to Bill's contributions and are confident that his financial expertise
and knowledge of our industry will be invaluable to AirGate as we execute our
strategy."

AirGate PCS, Inc. is the PCS Affiliate of Sprint with the right to sell wireless
mobility communications network products and services under the Sprint brand in
territories within three states located in the Southeastern United States. The
territories include over 7.4 million residents in key markets such as
Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; Augusta and
Savannah, Georgia; and Asheville, Wilmington and the Outer Banks of North
Carolina.
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AirGate PCS Appoints Chief Financial Officer
Page 2
July 13, 2004


This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on current
expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the wireless industry,
the recapitalization plan, our beliefs and our management's assumptions. Words
such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends,"
"plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and variations of such words and
similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain
risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore,
actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or
forecasted in such forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: our dependence on the
success of Sprint's wireless business; the competitiveness and impact of Sprint
wireless pricing plans and PCS products and services; intense competition in the
wireless market and the unsettled nature of the wireless market; the potential
to experience a continued high rate of subscriber turnover; the ability of
Sprint to provide back office billing, subscriber care and other services and
the quality and costs of such services or, alternatively, our ability to
outsource all or a portion of these services at acceptable costs and the quality
of such services; subscriber credit quality; the ability to successfully
leverage 3G products and services; inaccuracies in financial information
provided by Sprint; new charges and fees, or increased charges and fees, imposed
by Sprint; the impact and outcome of disputes with Sprint; our ability to
predict future customer growth, as well as other key operating metrics; the
impact of spending cuts on network quality, customer retention and customer
growth; rates of penetration in the wireless industry; our significant level of
indebtedness and debt covenant requirements; the impact and outcome of legal
proceedings between other PCS Affiliates of Sprint and Sprint; the potential
need for additional sources of capital and liquidity; risks related to our
ability to compete with larger, more established businesses; anticipated future
losses; rapid technological and market change; the impact of wireless local
number portability; an adequate supply of subscriber equipment; the current
economic slowdown; and the volatility of AirGate PCS' stock price.

For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements and factors
that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in this news
release, please refer to AirGate PCS' filings with the SEC, especially in the
"risk factors" section of AirGate PCS' Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended
September 30, 2003, and in subsequent filings with the SEC. Except as otherwise
required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC,
we do not have any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

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