SBC positions itself to meet growing challenges from cable television providers SBC Communications on Monday reported net income of $885 million, or $0.27 per share, for the first quarter of 2005, down from $1.94 billion, or $0.58 per share, in the first quarter of 2004.First-quarter earnings per share fell short of the consensus analyst forecast of $0.33, according to Thomson First Call.SBC’s first-quarter revenue was up 2.4 percent from the same period last year, reaching $10.2 billion. SBC’s net income for the first quarter, which ended March 31, included after-tax expenses of $242 million for SBC’s portion of merger integration costs at Cingular Wireless. SBC owns 60 percent of Cingular, and the wireless company completed a $41 billion merger with AT&T Wireless Services in October. SBC plans to aquire AT&T pending regulatory approval in a deal worth $16 billion that was announced in January.Cingular’s first-quarter revenue was $8.2 billion, up 5.3 percent from the first quarter of 2004. Consumer wireline revenue was up 3.9 percent from the first quarter of 2004, and data revenue was up 6.7 percent.SBC reported a net increase of 504,000 DSLs (Digital Subscriber Lines) in the first quarter of 2005, the company’s largest quarterly gain ever in DSLs. SBC now counts 5.6 million DSLs in service. With SBC’s broad offerings, including telephone, broadband service, and wireless service, the company is in a good position to meet growing challenges from cable television providers looking to offer VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service, said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst.“Stripping out the cost of the merger of Cingular with AT&T Wireless, SBC is doing great,” Kagan said in an e-mail. “SBC looks like they are meeting the challenge of a changing industry very well. The trick will be to continue meeting the challenge over coming years as the cable television industry offers the same kinds of services.” Technology Industry