Sprint is running an interesting ad in today's Wall Street Journal. It portrays AT&T and AT&T Wireless as endlessly passing the buck to each other regarding landline and wireless phone service problems. Then it says that Sprint is one company you can rely on for everything. One of the specific benefits: "end-to-end accountability."

This, of course, is the exact opposite of AT&T Wireless's intended message--that it is a new, distinct, more nimble entity after independence from its increasingly stodgy namesake. (It has a license to use "AT&T" in its name; presumbly obtaining this permission was not exactly difficult.)

It's not clear that the "one company/one bill" message has fully resonated with telecommunications customers. Certainly on the consumer level, with automatic billing available, the benefits of dealing with one bill are minimal. People seem to care more about price and service reliability. Though I don't have any official data, anecdotally it is clear that I've overheard the word "Sprint" attached to unprintable language more often than other mobile service providers.

As for AT&T Wireless, it has just launched a new ad campaign with the tag line "Reach Out" -- a reference to AT&T's "Reach out and touch someone" of the past. This also involves a license, to use those words. I'm sure that was a bitter negotiation, too.