Virgin Media O2 Cuts Jobs and Halts Fibre Roll-out

Virgin Media O2 is reducing its workforce and halting its fibre network roll-out to manage liabilities estimated between £22 billion and £27.2 billion. The company announced it will reduce total people costs by approximately 30 per cent, primarily targeting non-customer-facing roles and senior management. While initial reports suggested up to 4,000 roles could be lost from a 16,000-strong workforce, the company later specified the cuts would impact its 15,000-person staff.

These measures follow a third-quarter revenue decline of 5.7 per cent to £2.4 billion and the loss of 23,300 fixed-line customers, leaving a total base of 5.5 million. Chief Executive Lutz Schüler stated that current market conditions, the regulatory backdrop for fibre, and technological shifts made standing still an impossible option.

To further reduce infrastructure costs, the company is in talks to utilize the network of its competitor, BT. This shift comes as Virgin Media O2 faces intensifying competition from industry giants and smaller altnets such as Community Fibre and Hyperoptic. The union Prospect described the redundancy plans as "disappointing and very unsettling."