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SBC: Cingular [the brand name] is no more

Posted in Tech by Derek at 9:24 am

I haven’t paid much attention to the AT&T / Cingular merger. All I knew - or thought I knew - was that AT&T as a brand name was being replaced with Cingular. We all saw the changes. AT&T Wireless cellphone kiosks adorned with the signature orange aqua symbol or the hybrid AT&T signal bars with a touch of orange. Times are a changing yet again.

at&t

“The revitalized mark symbolizes these attributes — innovation, integrity, quality, reliability and unsurpassed customer care�

The new logo reinvigorates the AT&T globe — one of the most recognized corporate symbols in the world. The new globe is three-dimensional, representing the expanding breadth and depth of services that the new AT&T family of companies provides to customers, as well as its global presence. #

Apparently the Cingular name brand / logo is no more. SBC, in it’s final stage of the communications carrier merger, has decided instead to change the communication giants official name to at&t. Check out the new logo above. It’s at&t. Lowercase. Supposedly more welcoming. Personally, I think the reborn globe is great. I think it’s a lot better than the Sprint / Nextel logo. I’m not really feeling the lowercase at&t though. It doesn’t look complete. But what do I know? I’m typing this up while think tanks get paid to debate over capped or lowercase lettering.

5 Comments, Comment or Trackback

  1. ian

    Eh, the facts are a little off on this one (sorry). Cingular will remain the name of the wireless carrier, as it’s technically its own independent company. However, SBC will change its name to at&t starting today. Sucks, because I liked the SBC name and logo as it is, and it’s easier to say.

    “On Oct. 27, SBC announced that it would adopt the AT&T Inc. name following merger close. Today, the company announced that it will begin trading under the “T” symbol on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 1. In the interim, it will trade under the existing “SBC” symbol.

    A revitalized corporate logo will be unveiled on Monday, Nov. 21, the company’s first full day of operation as the new AT&T.”

    and

    “The new AT&T owns 60 percent of Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider.”

    Nov 22nd, 2005

  2. Derek

    i’m not sure where exactly the facts are twisted. the name cingular is done according to whitacre [ceo]:

    Asked if the company planned to drop the Cingular name in favor of the AT&T brand, Whitacre said, “Yes, we do.”

    Whitacre said AT&T might still use the Cingular name in some markets. But the overall plan, he said, is to use the AT&T name to market all the company’s products â€â€? local, long-distance, wireless, data and video. #

    what facts were off? cingular [the brand name] is going to be replaced with at&t.

    Nov 22nd, 2005

  3. Nate MC

    I just love that at&t is making a comeback. I can break out my “We don’t care, we don’t have to” T-shirt more often.

    On a more serious side though, I think at&t is the only one of these companies that can take on Comcast, they should’ve stuck to their guns with at&t broadband/cable years back it would be a whole different world. For the better? I don’t know.

    Nov 22nd, 2005

  4. stephen

    i personally like the new logo.
    Im not much of a person to comment on cooporate mergers and the like, but the logo, it looks nice.
    I have always been an advocate of lowercase letters, and this feels like a major win to me.

    Nov 22nd, 2005

  5. ian

    Okay, I based my facts off of the official SBC/at&t press release. I interpreted your article as saying that SBC would retain the SBC name, and Cingular alone would change over to at&t. Since the press release said nothing about the Cingular name (other than saying at&t would own 60% stock share), I assumed it would remain the same.

    Nov 23rd, 2005

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