NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Cingular Wireless said Tuesday it will cut as many as 3,000 jobs, or 7.5 percent of its work force, as the No 2 wireless provider, facing a tough time for the telecom business, tries to cuts costs and streamline operations.

The company expects costs from 2,500 to 3,000 job cuts not to exceed $70 million, pre-tax. The charges will be recognized this year.

Cingular said more than a third of the cuts will come from eliminating temporary positions and normal attrition and will affect sales, marketing, network, finance and human resources positions in the United States and Puerto Rico.

The news comes the same day the Wall Street Journal reported that VoiceStream has proposed a deal to merge with Cingular to create a company rivaling No. 1 wireless phone provider Verizon Wireless.

Atlanta-based Cingular, a joint venture of regional phone providers SBC Communications Inc. (SBC: Research, Estimates) and BellSouth Corp., (BLS: Research, Estimates) is the No. 2 provider, with nearly 22.2 million customers.

"Cingular was formed two years ago from eleven different brands," President and CEO Stephen Carter said. "In that time, we have learned how we can operate more efficiently and more effectively."

The company, which employs 44,000 full- and part-time workers, did not say how much money the job cuts would save.