A $41 billion question

It's earnings season, and even though it's early yet, we already have our big story: AT&T Wireless announced today, three days before it officially reports its first quarter results, that it lost 367,000 subscribers during the quarter.

This is shocking but not completely surprising news, as the carrier's subscriber losses have been water cooler talk around the wireless industry for the last couple months.

Everyone pretty much knew what was going on at AT&T Wireless, and presumably that includes Cingular Wireless, the company that agreed to acquire them about halfway through the first quarter for $41 billion.

The rumors of subscriber losses, as well as AT&T's poor fourth quarter 2003 financials, didn't seem to faze Cingular from its intent to acquire. But it could be several more months before the acquisition closes, and you have to wonder what AT&T Wireless has in store for the rest of the year.

Either this quarter's big subscriber loss is more of an aberration, having come just after the advent of portability, or else the exodus has just begun. If the latter is the case, how many of AT&T's customers is Cingular willing to lose?

If the company didn't have answer for that question before, it might want to decide now.

E-mail me at doshea@primediabusiness.com