News
The company said that it needs to make huge cost savings, with employee costs currently consuming 75 per cent of the revenues the company earns
Cash strapped Indian operator BSNL has confirmed that it will look to slash up to 80,000 jobs, as part of its Voluntary Redundancy Scheme.
BSNL’s chairman, Pravin Kumar Purwar, told journalists at the Economic Times of India that the scheme would see the company cut its Indian workforce by around half.
"We all know that BSNL’s employee cost is 75% of the revenue. The number of persons in the organisation are far higher than the competitors. One of the proposals under discussion is the VRS. We are looking forward to 70,000 to 80,000 employees, and make it attractive for the employees, so that they can see value in the VRS," he said.
BSNL’s financial problems have been well documented in recent months, as Nokia publicly called out India’s state-owned telco, over unpaid dues. BSNL owes Nokia unpaid dues of approximately $112.9 million for various network equipment related to its 2G and 3G mobile network services.
India remains one of the most hyper competitive telecoms markets in the world, with operators forced to subsist on ARPUs of just $1.50.
Also in the news:
Vodafone Idea denies reports that it is to pull out of strategic regions of India
