s in the continental United States. The agreement entailed the building of GSM/GPRS networks along major highways in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as roadways in Upstate New York, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. VAULT CAREER LIBRARY 2005 Vault Inc. Vault Guide to the Top Telecom Employers Cingular Wireless Trouble at AT&T Although Cingular remained committed to the deal to acquire AT&T Wireless, AT&T experienced some rough times, which brought the asking price down a bit. While a lower price could be considered a break for Cingular, it also means that Cingular has its work cut out for it. In April 2004, AT&T Wireless reported that it had lost subscribers during the first three months of the year, and disclosed another loss, in its all-important profit margin. AT&T said that it had a first-quarter loss of $58 million on sales of $4.1 billion. Media reports said that analysts had expected the company to be close to break-even for the quarter. In comparison to the first quarter of 2003, the company had a profit of $135 million from sales of $3.95 billion. The first- quarter loss marked the company's second in a row. In the fourth quarter 2003, AT&T Wireless reported a loss of $84 million and sales of $4.2 billion. In more bad news, the company also confessed that it lost 367,000 customers during the first quarter, (while Cingular picked up 554,000 new subscribers), the first time its total subscriber count (currently at 22 million) has declined. The net loss in subscribers came despite having signed more than 2 million new customers during the quarter, making for a pretty high turnover rate. Trying to right the ship In spite of these difficulties, AT&T Wireless reported in April that it plans to open 100 new retail stores and increase staffing at its overrun customer call centers (which at one point generated SO many complaints they drew public criticism from the Federal Communications Commission). AT&T Wireless faulted the quarter's dismal results on severa