Cingular changing back to AT&T

Cingular to disappear, reappear Monday as AT&T in rebranding strategy

By Jim Stafford
Business Writer

Quick, name the nation's largest wireless telephone company, the one with 58 million customers and "rollover” minutes.
If you said "Cingular Wireless,” you are wrong. AT&T now claims the distinction of the nation's largest wireless company, because it is folding Cingular into its telecommunications business.

The 6-year-old Cingular name will disappear beginning Monday when AT&T launches a "re-branding” campaign for the wireless company, Andy Morgan, an AT&T Oklahoma spokesman, said Thursday.

AT&T became the sole owner of the nation's largest wireless provider Dec. 29 when it closed on the acquisition of BellSouth. AT&T and BellSouth had owned Cingular Wireless in a joint venture. The company said last week that it would re-brand Cingular, but the question remained open until Thursday if the wireless company would retain a separate identity, perhaps as AT&T Wireless.

"The stores are going to be re-branded as AT&T Media Centers,” Morgan said. "Customers can go to the stores and not only get information about phones, but see demonstrations of other products and services, such as AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet and AT&T Home Zone (satellite television).”

Nationwide, about 375 Cingular stores will become AT&T Media Centers, Morgan said. Cingular operates 20 company-owned retail stores in Oklahoma.

Atlanta-based telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan called AT&T's re-branding plan of its Cingular Wireless unit a "master strategy” to put all of its business operations under one brand.

"The marketplace is changing and now is the time to make the change,” Kagan said. "In the new marketplace we are transitioning into, customers can buy all their services in a big bundle from a single company.”

The technology has become more important than the brand to wireless customers, said Oklahoma City branding expert and advertising consultant Malena Lott. For instance, Cingular — now AT&T — will offer the high-tech Apple iPhone when it debuts in June.

"Wireless providers may well go the way of banks, where a name change happens rather seamlessly, with little fanfare,” Lott said. "The Y-generation and the tech-loving rugrats behind them are happy to switch bands when the next ‘cool thing' comes along.”

The transition to AT&T means some Cingular customers will complete a wireless transition back to where they started. Cingular bought AT&T Wireless in 2004, dropped the AT&T name and folded the network into its operations.

Bringing Cingular operations into AT&T as sole owner means the number of AT&T employees almost doubled in Oklahoma when the deal closed. AT&T employed about 3,000 in the state and added about 2,800 Cingular employees, Morgan said.

The Cingular brand has been on the scene since 2001 when 11 wireless companies, including the former Southwestern Bell Wireless, BellSouth Mobility and Pacific Bell Wireless were merged into one company and renamed Cingular Wireless.

ya know, I thought they said when ATT took over SBC that the wireless market couldn't be included?

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Interesting. I have Cingular....I mean A T & T, as my cell phone provider. About a week ago I switched my home phone service to AT&T and also picked up their Yahoo High Speed internet...best decision I have ever made.

Actually, Cingular is NOT changing "back" to AT&T. Cingular was Southwestern Bell Cellular. AT&T was a seperate company.

BOY am I glad I didn't make the jump to cingular last month.

ATT is one of the most pitiful, albeit largest, companies around. Sadly, they are trading on the collateral associated with their name, which bears virtually no relationship to the company it has symbolized over the last ten years or so.

Keep in mind that when you say "ATT" you're really talking about the old Southwestern Bell, whom I proudly dispatched as my phone provider a few years ago and have never looked back. I got to the point where I despised SBC so much I almost switched back just so I could cancel them again

AT&T, and the old Bell Labs, used to represent a flagship of technology and innovation. Now its just hack electronics and a service provider. No thanks.

-soonerdave

AT&T didn't take over SBC. It's the other way around. Actually, SBC just changed their name to AT&T to try to revitalize the iconic brand. SBC had purchased AT&T in early 2005. Here's a chart that shows how AT&T came to be "again."




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Having had several family members who used to work for parts of the "old" AT&T - and I mean pre-breakup AT&T, I can promise you that AT&T is nothing like the "current" ATT - which, I believe, is working to remove that "ampersand" from their brand icon.

The "current" ATT is barely more than a holding company, and that's being polite.

In case you haven't noticed, I despise the "new" ATT.

-SoonerDave

What, SoonerDave? You haven't sent any telegrams lately?!?!?!?
I suppose it could be, "American Telephone & Trouble."

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