Telecom Branding Effort To Expand

Six months after launching the costliest branding campaign in telecom history, the “new” AT&T is preparing to extend the effort to BellSouth’s territory, upon winning regulatory approval of the companies’ merger.

AT&T’s $65 billion acquisition of the No. 3 carrier—expected by the fourth quarter—would erase the BellSouth name. Cingular Wireless, co-owned by AT&T and BellSouth, is also vanishing, as AT&T seeks to bundle services under a single name.

AT&T declined to comment on the status of WPP Group’s Grey in New York, the lead agency on BellSouth.