VOIP roll out expands to 12 U.S. cities this month AT&T Corp. slashed some of its 2004 forecasts this week, citing pricing pressure from increased competition and losses due to a recent U.S. regulatory decision on local access rates.At the same time it said it was accelerating its VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) roll out, expanding the offering to 12 U.S. cities this month as well as beginning teleworker trials for U.S.-based multinational business customers to use its CallVantage VOIP offering in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.K.The Bedminster, New Jersey, company said Wednesday that given a recent escalation in pricing pressure it now expects a sequential increase in its year-over-year revenue decline for the second-quarter of 2004 for AT&T Business. It also expects a “high-teens” rate of decline in its AT&T Consumer segment for full-year 2004 compared to the previous year due to a regulatory decision on local access rates that caused it to cut back on its customer acquisition programs. AT&T now expects total revenue of between $29.5 billion and $30.5 billion for 2004. Earlier this year a Washington, D.C., appeals court ordered an end to portions of a federal policy designed to give telecommunications competitors access to the local networks. AT&T has argued that a stoppage of the network-sharing rules will lead to higher prices.AT&T’s 2004 financial revisions may serve as another tell-tale sign of the changing market telecommunications providers face, where they are under increasing pressure to adopt new technologies and at the same time keep prices down.AT&T said that it is pushing forward with an aggressive cost-cutting plan to meet competitive goals and that it has already exceeded a previously announced 8 percent head-count reduction for 2004, which is expected to result in a $70 million charge for the second quarter. Representatives for the company were not available Thursday to say exactly how many additional employees had been laid off. Technology Industry