Well, at least the ad agencies should be happy with all the new revenue... Reuters reports today that AT&T plans to eliminate the Cingular brand name and switch it back to AT&T -- this after billions of dollars have been spent over the past few years promoting Cingular.

"We did not enter that decision lightly," says Wendy Clark, AT&T's vice president of advertising. "We came to understand that consumer customers and business customers alike are looking for a single provider. We heard it so consistently across the marketplace."

"The company also says that within the coming months all 2,000 Cingular wireless retail outlets across the country will transition to AT&T-branded signage, and Cingular's 15,000 store employees will be outfitted with AT&T-branded apparel," writes Wireless Week's Joni Morse.

Red Herring's Cassimir Medford points out that the timing, just days after the Cingular brand "basked in the reflected glow of the much-anticipated Apple iPhone," is a little unfortunate. "Perhaps the branding change could have been made before the introduction of the iPhone, and the AT&T brand would have gotten the iPhone boost," he writes.

AT&T's press release is here.