British cable television major NTL was expected to announce the elimination of some 6,000 jobs Monday, many of which will be outsourced to India.
The Independent reported Sunday that the ax was falling as a result of NTL's recent merger with Telewest and would hit employees of NTL's eight U.K. call centers the hardest, with jobs being transferred to India and to South Africa.
The job cuts would be the latest in a series of blows to Britain's communications workers, who have experienced significant losses at Cable-and-Wireless and Orange in recent weeks.
The newspaper said NTL has been working on major cuts to operating costs ever since the October Telewest deal and the acquisition of Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile will escape unscathed for now.
NTL has about 5 million cable customers in Britain.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
NTL's pending job cuts strike fear
NTL has been on a buying spree in recent months, but the time seemingly has come for the company to get its house in order and start getting leaner and meaner.
Comcast Cuts Off Bandwidth Hogs
The telecom giant is warning customers to avoid excessive bandwidth consumption or risk being disconnected for up to a year.
Wireless in the Sky: Hearst Builds Tower of the Future
Media icon Hearst has built a 46-story, 856,000-square-foot structure designed to utilize the latest wireless technology. Hearst's new tower, with its diamond-shaped windows and distinctive triangular frame, cuts a unique profile against the New York skyline, rising like a faceted apparition above its gray Columbus Circle neighbors.
Broadband seen feeling O2 heat soon
When it comes to phone services, European markets are often ahead of the curve, particularly when it comes to making the most out of mobile phones. Paying for parking or getting a drink from a vending machine via a mobile handset is all too common in Finland or Germany but effectively unheard of in the United States. Meanwhile, text-messaging had been flourishing in Britain years before U.S. users finally started getting into the quick-fingered mode of communication.
Carphone's broadband plan shakes up sector
The slogan is tantalizing enough. "Free broadband, forever," or so declared Carphone Warehouse, one of Europe's biggest mobile group based in London. For the past few weeks, the company had trumpeted the mantra and indicated that it would indeed deliver upon its promise, which had left rivals quivering in anticipation of the announcement.
Britain feels heat of NTL's Virgin buyout
Getting more services for less money. That could well be what many British customers will be getting if NTL's buyout of Virgin Mobile works out as planned as they propose to offer mobile, fixed-line, broadband, and television viewing all under the same monthly bill. For other companies in the telecommunications industry, though, the latest deal that will be offering so-called quadruple play has stepped up pressure to deliver more at an affordable price if they want to remain in the competition.
NTL acquires Virgin Mobile for $1.67B
Cable giant NTL Tuesday struck a deal to acquire Virgin Mobile, setting the stage for the delivery of its content to wireless phones in the United Kingdom.
Will NTL up ante for Virgin Mobile?
Telecom analysts were waiting Tuesday to see if NTL would indeed up its bid for Virgin Mobile as predicted in a weekend newspaper report.