On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the $85 billion merger between BellSouth and AT&T. The combined company will operate under the AT&T banner, of course.

As a result of the coming together of these two telecommunications companies, AT&T now owns 100 percent of the Cingular Wireless brand. Cingular, the largest wireless operator in the U.S. - with 57.3 million subscribers - had been managed by both AT&T and BellShouth before the merger.

With FCC approval, AT&T can now put into motion its plan to rename Cingular as AT&T, returning the AT&T brand to the wireless world after a two year absence. Late in 2004, Cingular purchased AT&T Wireless for $41 billion dollars. That merger vaulted the carrier ahead of then mobile operator leader Verizon Wireless.

Currently, Cingular offers what is perhaps the largest swath of smartphones and cellular-wireless handhelds in the United States. Over the last few months, for example, the carrier added the Nokia E62, Palm Treo 680, Samsung BlackJack, HTC-built 3125 and 8525, HP iPAQ hw6920, and the RIM BlackBerry Pearl.

The carrier's 3G wireless network (for Web access, e-mail, MMS, music, video, etc.), which it has been rolling out over the past year, is among the country's fastest high-speed data offerings. Unlike Sprint and Verizon's EV-DO networks, Cingular - a GSM carrier - leverages HTMS/HSPDA technology.

Cingular is also far ahead of fellow GSM carrier T-Mobile, the fourth largest operator in the U.S. It wasn't until October 2006 that T-Mobile announced it would start rolling out its 3G network - after turning out to be the big winner in the FCC's recent spectrum auction, paying $4.2 billion for 120 licenses. T-Mobile said country-wide rollout won't be completed until next year.

For more on the AT&T/BellSouth merger click here.