>>> *Sigh* AT&T did NOT "buy out" Cingular.
>>> Cingular's parent company, SBC (Southwestern Bell)
>>> bought (what was left of) AT&T,
>>> and renamed themselves and their "Cingular" wireless divison,
>>> to "AT&T" for the name-brand recognition.

And things then come full circle.
I started with AT&T Wireless,
which then became Cingular
and is now AT&T Mobility.
It's all to keep the sign-makers in business
to keep making new signs for the (remaining) stores :-)

>> Actually they bought BellSouth which owned Cingular...

> Almost- SBC (now AT&T) bought BellSouth who owned 40% of Cingular
> (SBC owned the other 60%.)
> I skipped that part for simplicity (and irrelevance.) Cingular was always
> a joint-venture between SBC and BS. After absorbing both AT&T and BS,
> SBC was free to rename Cingular to AT&T.