AT&T and Cingular???????????

[scott808]

Okay, anybody know what is going on? The two became Cingular, now I see these AT&T wireless ads on the tube.

 

Okay, when they changed to Cingular. They made me change phones. Now I find out from a friend that the Sony Ericsson T637 phone(AT&T) that I had works with (Cingular) if you unlock it.

 

So what's happening, did they get a divorce or something. Sounds kind of fishy to me.

 

I guess I'll just unlock it in the LOS.

[Mr Pickles]

You got it half right. Yes they did merge but they became "The New AT&T" and they are in the process of phasing out the Cingular brand name. Just about any phone using a SIM card can be unlocked and used, especially in Thailand.

[driftwood]

There is nothing fishy going on. To make a long story short you will have no change in phones or service except for the the fact that cingular is try to push everyone to 3G technology so they can sell you more services and media content. This was going to happen with or without the name change.

 

If you want to know why you shouldn't worry about the name change then read on, if not, stop here.

 

The long story is back in the 90's AT&T spun its self into three parts: AT&T, AT&T Wireless and Lucent Technology. AT&T Wireless was then bought by Cingular a few years back(some of the old AT&T customers went to SunCom for anti-trust reasons). Some people had to get new phones to roll into the new networks. Meanwhile the "old" AT&T continued to self destruct thru the late 90's and early 2000's

 

As for Cingular, they are jointly owned by SBC communication and Bell South. Last year SBC communication bought what was left of the "old" AT&T which was corporate long distance customers and the AT&T name, logo and trademark. SBC Communication became the "New" at&t, a brand name everyone the in the United States would know.

 

Within the last couple of months the "new" at&t bought Bell South and hence became the sole owner of Cingular. So for branding and marketing reasons SBC, Bellsouth and Cingular are becoming the new at&t as one company. There is very little overlap in these company's so there will be no network change just because of the merger.

 

This is probably more than you wanted to know, but I hope it puts your fears about something fishy with the name change. Of course this will not stop them from trying to push people to the new 3G phones, but that was going to happen regardless.

 

[shygye]

Actually BellSouth did have their own wireless service but sold it to Cingular. I went through,

 

BellSouth -> Cingular -> AT&T -> Suncom

[driftwood]

I had AT&T wireless and got dumped into SunCom after the merger. Recently switched to Cingular. I didn't like SunCom's service plus I wanted broadbandConnect for my laptop. The sales people at cingular say that broadband connect will work in Thailand, but it's not economical. It easier and cheaper to find a wi-fi network. I also prefer just to have an unlocked phone and get a simcard when in LOS.

[rchapstick]

Colbert Explains

 

Beautifully explained by Stephen Colbert

[driftwood]

:thumbup: thanks for the link. LOL