UK's Virgin Media O2 to slash jobs, halt fibre roll-out

LONDON, Nov 3 : British mobile and broadband company Virgin Media O2 is cutting jobs, halting its fibre roll-out and is in talks to use its bigger rival BT's network, as it seeks to increase its profitability and reduce debt.

The company, jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, is being squeezed by the roll-out of BT's fibre network and scores of small "alt-nets".

It said on Tuesday it would cut around 30 per cent of its total people costs, with the majority of the reduction coming from non-customer facing roles. The group employs 15,000 people.

Chief Executive Lutz Schüler said the changes were tough but necessary.

"Given the market conditions we face, the regulatory backdrop in fibre and the technological changes sweeping across all areas of the economy, standing still and doing what we’ve always done is not an option," he said.

The challenge facing the group was clear in its third-quarter results, with a loss of 23,300 fixed line customers taking its total to 5.5 million.

Its total revenue for the quarter fell 5.7 per cent to £2.4 billion ($3.22 billion) and adjusted core earnings fell 2.6 per cent to £995 million.