Late Thursday regional Bell operating company SBC revealed that it will be cutting positions and capital spending.
SBC plans to decrease its workforce by about 11,000, approximately 6% of its total workers. The cuts are in addition to 10,000 jobs SBC has already cut this year.
The carrier also slashed its capital spending forecast for 2003 from $6 billion to $5 billion. SBC spent almost $8 billion in 2002.
In a statement, SBC chairman Edward Whitacre blamed federal regulators for SBC's woes, saying the company is struggling, because it is forced to subsidize its competitors.
SBC and the other 3 RBOCs - Verizon, BellSouth and Qwest - are forced to sell network elements to competitive carriers at wholesale prices set by the Federal Communications Commission. The RBOCs have argued that the wholesale rates aren't high enough for the RBOCs to make a return on their equipment investment.
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