KPN announces job cuts in streamlining strategy

NEWS Reports on the extent of the planned job cuts vary, ranging as high as 8,000, although KPN says it will be more like 2,000 jobs that will be affected. KPN has refused to give precise details of where the axe will fall, however, German mobile phone subsidiary E-Plus is not expected to be affected by the cuts. KPN currently employs a total of 36,000 people. KPN's optical fibre network, which went live earlier this year, is to be transformed into an IP backbone. KPN wants to create a new division specifically for broadband services. In addition, the existing telephone network is to be given data transfer capabilities.