 to use SBC's phone lines to offer local service. Because of the anticipated increase in revenue, the company decided to hold off on the impending layoffs and pledged to not lay off any workers in the state for at least a year. SBC said none of the layoffs would affect customer service or areas responsible for long distance. Tough quarter, but a good year The fourth quarter of 2003 was a tough one for SBC, as the company reported income of $905 million and revenue of $10.1 billion. Although these numbers look pretty good, they represent a whopping 61 percent decrease in quarterly income compared to the same quarter in 2002, when the company reported income of $2.4 billion on revenues of $11.2 billion. The losses came as SBC saw a 32 percent decrease in access lines between the third and fourth quarters, increases in pension and retiree benefit costs, and higher expenses associated with the company's expansion into long distance and DSL. Despite losing some consumer access telephone lines, the company's fourth quarter revenue still managed to benefit from growth in long-distance, DSL and business data services, according to the company. SBC added 2.9 million long-distance lines during the quarter, including 1.7 million lines in the Midwest, where the FCC approved SBC's expansion in October. The company also added 377,000 DSL lines in the quarter, which stands as the company's eighth consecutive quarter of growth in that area. In the company's annual report, the company noted that one of its primary goals for 2004 was to double the number of customers who subscribe to local phone service, long distance, DSL or Cingular Wireless. While the fourth quarter numbers weren't stellar, results for the full year look much better, as SBC saw income of $8.5 billion, up from income of $5.7 billion in 2002. Revenue slipped slightly, however, falling to $41 billion, down from $43 billion in 2002. Work shutdown? A union representing about 100,000 workers at SBC gave the company a 30-day notice for a possible strike in April 2004.