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SBC, BellSouth venture named Cingular Wireless
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October 5, 2000: 2:39 p.m. ET
$12B company will be the nation's No. 2 wireless carrier, serving 19 million in 38 states
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The joint venture between the wireless units of SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. was christened Cingular Wireless and launched Thursday.
Atlanta-based Cingular will be the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier, serving more than 19 million customers in 38 states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories. The company will have an estimated $12 billion in annual revenue.
 "Cingular is a name that shows the importance of the individual customer, as well as the unity of this joint venture," Cingular President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Carter said at a launch ceremony in Atlanta. "It is about simplifying the wireless industry, offering personal service and standing out among the rest of the industry."
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission gave its approval to SBC and BellSouth's wireless joint venture on Sept. 29. Cingular is a separate company, of which SBC owns 60 percent and BellSouth owns 40 percent. Its earnings will flow back to the parent companies in the same proportion.
SBC and BellSouth wireless properties will continue marketing under their existing names until the end of the year. During the transition, SBC and BellSouth will offer identical national and regional rate plans. Early in 2001, the 11 different brands offered by BellSouth and SBC will all become Cingular Wireless.
"We want our customers to feel comfortable with the name change," Carter said. "We will take great care to explain the additional benefits they will gain by being part of a national wireless company."
Cingular will launch a national advertising campaign to introduce the new name, and a consumer-marketing campaign will begin in January.
A BellSouth statement said the name "Cingular" is meant to invoke a "single source for wireless communications." The 'C' in the name stands for "customers," BellSouth said, and is meant to show the company is not "business as usual."
Shares of San Antonio-based SBC (SBC: Research, Estimates) were up $1.81 to $53.56 in Thursday afternoon trading, while shares of Atlanta-based BellSouth (BLS: Research, Estimates) were up $2.06 to $45. 
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