Bye Bye Cingular

This monday, US operator Cingular will be rebranded as AT&T Wireless

Now, sit down, and read the following very slowly…

Cingular Wireless LLC bought AT&T Wireless, then an independent company, and killed off the AT&T Wireless brand. The owners of Cingular, SBC, then decided to buy AT&T and adopted the brand for its landline services. After AT&T bought Bellsouth Corporation, the other owner of Cingular, the AT&T Wireless brand was restored.

Everything clear?

The timing is slightly odd.. what with some news about an… Apple Phone(?) being exclusively Cingular? Those in the know are fine, but will Apple really be that happy with a rebrand just days after their own CES bombshell?

This first step will put in place a transitional logo with elements of the Cingular logo, and AT & T’s own. The 2000 Cingular outlets across the USA will all be updated with AT&T branding in stages throughout 2007.

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