Cingular

The Cingular was formed in 2001 by the merger of SBC communications (now AT&T, Inc.) and BellSouth Wireless (which AT&T, Inc. acquired in 2006) and this joint venture created the nation's second largest carrier. The Cingular grew out of a conglomeration of twelve regional companies with Bell roots. Cingular then acquired the old AT&T Wireless in the year 2004. Cingular became wholly-owned by the new AT&T in December 2006 as a result of AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. Cingular is the largest mobile phone company in the United States including Puerto Rico.

The company has 63.7 million customers as of the end of the second quarter for 2007 year and operates the largest digital voice and data network in the United States of America and it is the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless carrier. Cingular is the only US wireless carrier to offer Rollover service, the wireless plan that lets subscribers keep their unused monthly minutes. The Cingular uses both the PCS (1900 MHz) and cellular (850 MHz) bands.

The company's current wireless network uses GSM/GPRS technology. They also offer EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) high-speed data over most of their network, WCDMA(UMTS) and HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 3G technology over a large and growing area that includes most major cities. The Cingular's coverage areas are like continental United States, Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

The Cingular service is now branded as wireless from AT&T or sometimes simply AT&T. Renaming on a corporate level occurred immediately and consumer brandmarking changed to "AT&T". Until all regulatory filings are sanctioned and public awareness is nurtured, the "Cingular" brand will continue to be used in store collection and media advertisements during a dual-branded transition, expected to last several months. This process began on January 15, 2007.

The Cingular Wireless, the USA based mobile operator has managed to get a patent on the concept of using emoticon on Cell Phones. While the aim of the patent is to enable the displaying of MSN style graphics on mobile phones. On january 9, 2007 Cingular and Apple announced that Cingular, the best and most popular wireless carrier in the US, will be Apple's exclusive US carrier for its revolutionary iphone. The Cingular and Apple are working together to provide latest features such as iPhones pioneering and unique visual voicemail, a first in Cell Phones in the world.

Awards received by Cingular:

• Best of the best in Text, IM, Video and Picture messages in 2006
• New freedom initiative award in 2003
• World communications award in 2002
• Advertising Campaign award in 2001