MmO2, the demerged mobile phone unit of British Telecom, is to cut 1,900 jobs in a major restructuring of its business.
The company is to cut 1,400 jobs in its BT Cellnet business this year and 500 jobs at German subsidiary VIAG Interkom.
It is also closing 133 of its 320 BT Cellnet high street stores. The combined cuts will leave a workforce of 6,100 at BT Cellnet, and an estimated 8,900 across the rest of its European operations.
The company says the restructuring, which is likely to centre on offices in Leeds and Slough, will improve its financial performance and reflects the changing nature of the mobile phone market. The cuts will begin in April, which marks the start of its financial year.
Operators are moving away from focusing solely on driving up subscriber numbers to building revenues from their existing customer base.
Mr David Varney, chairman of mmO2, said: "Whilst our markets remain highly competitive, we have made an encouraging start in implementing our strategy of focusing on operational performance, managing the businesses cohesively, and leading in new data services".
MmO2 says it added 453,000 net new customers in the three months to December 31st, taking its total customer base to 17.24 million. BT Cellnet added 107,000 net new customers - 56,000 of them contract customers - and now has a base of 10.97 million customers.
PA