AT&T Inc, formed in November when SBC Communications Inc bought AT&T Corp, will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a branding campaign that begins on New Year's Eve and includes the music of UK rock band Oasis.

　　While AT&T, the largest US telephone company, won't say how much it plans to spend, independent telecommunications analyst Jeff Kagan estimated the costs after a briefing with AT&T executives.

　　The company is trying to redefine the AT&T brand name after the US$16.5 billion combination that closed in November. Chief Executive Officer Edward Whitacre kept the AT&T name because of its international recognition and a 128-year tradition of innovation. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, founded what later became American Telephone & Telegraph.

　　Customers

　　"They have got to change the world's view of the company," Kagan said. "It's something that goes way beyond what they've done in the past."

　　AT&T will blanket Times Square in New York with the message "Your World Delivered" to convince customers the San Antonio-based company can meet all their communications needs, Shelley Almager, director of advertising, said.

　　"This is a substantially different company," Almager said.

　　SBC has a history of spending big on advertising. The company was the fifth-largest US advertiser with US$2.69 billion spent in 2004, according to Advertising Age magazine.

　　(Bloomberg News)