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SBC Communications Inc., the No. 2 U.S. local telephone company, warned that first-quarter profit may fall short of Wall Street forecasts because of costs to upgrade its Ameritech unit and to offer new Internet and long-distance telephone services. SBC said it expects earnings in the range of 50 cents to 53 cents for the quarter. Analysts were anticipating 59 cents, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. . . . Corning Inc. is cutting 825 jobs at its optical components plants near Corning, N.Y., and Scranton, Pa., because of a slowdown in the telecommunications industry. The cuts amount to about 15% of the 5,500 jobs in its photonic technologies business.