Several of the call centers are already in existing buildings that are being refurbished. Two of the centers are vacated Wal-Mart stores, one a vacant Kmart store and another, a former Lockheed Martin facility.

No retail stores, regional offices, administrative or network facilities will be affected by the closures. Cingular tells GlobeSt.com the new call center locations were selected based on its overall labor market, operational costs, cost of living and ability of the firm to take occupancy quickly.

"A best practices approach was produced and the decision made to have fewer, but larger, multi-functional call centers," says Ken Keatley, southeast media relations representative for Cingular. In larger cities such as Atlanta, there tended to be smaller call centers in each major market.

"They determined it would be much more operationally efficient and would lead to higher customer service if they consolidated to one center that was customer-service related," Keatley says.