Cingular to be AT&T -- not!
posted November 21st 2005 10:40AM
Well, you can say goodbye to Cingular. SBC, which closed its merger with AT&T last week, decided that after spending untold millions promoting the Cingular brand for its joint venture with BellSouth, that they're going to drop the name and start selling wireless service under the AT&T brand name. (At least for the most part, they say there will be a few places where they still use the Cingular name).
Anyway, we can get why they're doing it —
SBC, which was one of the Baby Bells spun off from AT&T during the big break up of 1984, is officially changing its
name to AT&T, and they want to unify all the branding — but man, are things getting confusing. As you'll recall,
last year Cingular snapped up AT&T Wireless, which
had been spun off from AT&T in 2001 for the princely sum of $41 billion. They then spent the better part of the
past year spending tons of time and money trying to eliminate the AT&T Wireless brand and integrate its network,
subscribers, and services into Cingular. The integration is pretty much done (or close to it), but now they're going to
go through all that again, except in reverse, which means that some of you out there will go from being AT&T
Wireless subcribers, to Cingular subscribers, only to become AT&T Wireless subscribers all over again.
P.S. - See for more background check out The Engadget Guide
to AT&T Wireless/Cingular/SBC/AT&T Merger Mania.
Update: Cingular fans, we have good news — as reported by RCR, apparently Cingular spokesman Clay Owen said they "are continuing with the strong Cingular brand that we have spent the past five years building and promoting." In other words, it looks like USA Today's report was predicated on some miscommunicated information — SBC is changing its name to AT&T, yes, and they plan on resurrecting AT&T branded wireless service, yes, but apparently as something more akin to an MVNO leasing Cingular's network capacity. So if we're to believe RCR on this, then Cingular stays, AT&T wireless is back as an MVNO in "select" markets, and all is well. We'll keep you posted… [Thanks, Vic.]
Having the name back will provide a little happiness... but the sour taste is still in my mouth from decreased coverage... More coverage my foot... Now if they could go back to the better ATT, then I'd be a happy camper again.
Here's what I'm wondering. I bought a Nokia 6700 from AT&T Wireless before Cingular bought them. Then, after Cingular bought them, I wanted to upgrade my phone but didn't because EVERYONE at Cingular told me that I would have to switch to one of the newer Cingular plans. Well, screw that. My old grandfatherd in AT&T plan is much better then the new plans. Sure, no Rollover, but there WAS a lot more anytime minutes for less money. The whole Rollover thing was probably the best marketing campain I ever saw for a wireless provider, but once you did the math on it, it wasn't worth it.
So, I wonder, if they switch back to being AT&T, could I keep my "old AT&T" plan when I upgrade my phone then? The Nokia 6700 was a great phone for it's time and must have been reasonably well built to still be working perfectly today, but it's time to move on. E70 perhaps? http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000193062973/
I am still on the attws plan and it has more for less money than if I were to switch to cingular. T-Mobile is cheap though Thinking of heading that way after the contract is up. I have heard that att is one of the most reconized names around the world. Attws wasnt actually part of att they were leasing the name from att and were their own seperate company. Changing a name doesnt mean your customer service will get any worse or better.
I fail to see how this really helps any of the companies involved much-- spend money building a brand just to abandon it? I'm wondering instead how this actually increases their cellular footprint. But If I were them I would seriously consider leaving the branding alone.
I would guess that the company with the HIGHEST NEGATIVITY associated with their name is SBC. And I'm sure somewhere along the line someone has made some money from the interplay of the former baby bells repeated mergings and splits.
I preferred AT&T's prepaid service to that of Cingular. (I don't use more than a few minutes a month, so I don't need a regular calling plan.)
When Cingular took over, rates increased 250% from $3.33 minimum a month to $8.33 minimum a month. Hopefully they won't jack up the prices again...
Figures, So my phone used to say AT&T Wireless, now it says Cingular, and in the near future, it will start saying AT&T Wireless again?
These people really need to make up their minds! I wonder if they will be sending me a new battery cover for my Motorola RAZR v3 to brand the phone as AT&T.
If it weren't for the free mobile to mobile minutes and roll-over minutes, I would have dumped AT&T/Cingular/AT&T long ago!
This makes me sick. I switched from AT&T to Cingular due to their crappy service. Since being with Cingular, I've never had to call customer service but with AT&T it was several time a week to complain about coverage and drop calls. Also Cingular offers the technology and services that people actully want to use plus they gived the users such good overall feeling. I guess I'll start looking at other providers.
This is going to be a nightmare for their customers. I had AT&T Wireless when Cingular scooped them up, and the service has been awful. I'm barely able to get information about my current service via their website, and if I want to get a new phone I've got to change to a Cingular plan (more expensive than the AT&T plan I've got for the same thing.)
i jut told my girlfriend about this - she is excited to know that she will now be able to legitimately get a new AT&T phone. she had been sticking with at&t because the plan she has had with at&t is significantly cheaper than anything the other companies currently offer....including cingular.
not so fast!
http://rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=24896
I have been shuffled through 3 phone companies now. Here where I live in Oklahoma, When Cingular bought AT&T, Cingular wasn't allowed to keep AT&T's customers due to monopoly laws. So Cingular handed all of AT&T's customers off to Alltel in some kind of shady backroom deal. So my bills come in Cingular branded envelopes and paper but the bill itself has Alltel printed on it. I log into the Cingular website to pay my Alltel phone bill. In January they are turning off the AT&T GSM network for Alltel customers, so I have to go get a new CDMA Alltel phone before then that has fewer features. Then when I do switch, I lose my plan that I have had since AT&T started GSM ($100 dollars a month for unlimited minutes). Anyone know of another carrier that won't jack me around like this never ending crap?
Why doesn't everyone leave that damn company and switch to another wireless carrier? They can then decide what they are going to do with their old name and old network and then stick it up their money sucking candy asses!
Cingular is hands down the worst company I've ever had to deal with on the Customer Service front. In addition, they have late fees and hidden charges that I bumped up against immediately after being switched over from AT&T. If my phone worked on other networks, I'd switch. Hopefully there will be a new AT&T Wireless that I can switch to.
PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PEOPLE! CINGULAR IS NOT GOING AWAY!!! THE REEMERGED AT&T WIRELESS (OR AT&T MOBILE) WILL BE CINGULAR’S BOOST (OR AMPED) MOBILE!!! GET THE PICTURE??!!
Cingular most certainly has not fully integrated the old AT&T Wireless. You need to upgrade your phones SIM to a 64K one in order to efficiently use both Cingular and AT&T cell towers. With 5 separate call centers (and President's Offices) Cingular hasnt even integrated the pieces from when it was created 6 years ago.
T-Mobile is looking better all the time.