For AT&T, which is largest US telecom, this will be more than a rebranding exercise; it’s part of the company’s ongoing strategy to sell service bundles and to increasingly integrated wired and wireless packages.

Cingular is the leading mobile phone carrier in the country, and billions of dollars have likely been spent building its brand name since it was created six years ago. But following AT&T’s purchase of the company, by way of its $86bn BellSouth Corp acquisition, just two weeks ago, Cingular will once again be known as AT&T.

Former AT&T Wireless subscribers must be shaking their heads. Three years ago, their wireless service was renamed as Cingular, following Cingular’s acquisition of AT&T Wireless, which AT&T Corp had already spun off.

Back then, Cingular was owned by SBC Communications and BellSouth. Now that AT&T owns both companies, the Cingular service will once again be known as AT&T.

At best, the telecoms merger mania in the US is confusing. For consumers, it seems an inane exercise in marketing.

AT&T said it plans to continue using the Cingular name and orange logo alongside the AT&T name and blue logo until customer awareness levels that Cingular has joined with AT&T are high.

Once the transition ends, the color orange will continue to be associated with AT&T’s wireless services, while the Cingular brand will be phased out. Even AT&T’s own marketing spiel seems confusing.

Still, AT&T is sure to realize significant savings in the long run by having a single AT&T brand rather than three. BellSouth’s broadband and local phone customers also will soon be seeing adverts about how they are now AT&T customers.

Just how much money AT&T will save by combining its marketing efforts is not known. On Friday, AT&T said that 20% of the operating expense savings from its BellSouth merger wiould come from advertising, as all operations are moved under a single brand. When it announced the BellSouth deal last March, execs said the combined outfit would save as much as half a billion dollars per annum.

During the next year, about 2,000 Cingular retail outlets will be rebranded as AT&T.