AT&T Canada announced Thursday it will loosen the grip of its U.S. parent and rename itself, “as it continues restructuring in a bid to become a more independent and competitive telecom company.” This will be an interesting one to watch: will they dare to break from the mold, along the lines of Orange, or go the predictable Nortel/WorldCom descriptive route? Or will they just trade one acronym for another?

Given the recent Canadian ambivalence toward naming or branding anything besides beverages and outdoor gear with the dreaded “C”-word, it’s a safe bet that “Canada” will not be part of the name.