For whom Bell tolls: 2,500 execs
p2pnet news view | Products:- “It’d been predicted that once the the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and its partners had acquired BCE with Michael Sabia retiring as CEO, we’d see price hikes and layoffs since this buy-out puts the union and Bell Canada $52 billion into dept,” posted p2pnet’s Ottawa Gal last Friday.
“Sabia said he’d step down once the ‘teachers’ deal was a go, and he was true to his word, his place being taken by one George Cope.”
And, “It seems one of the first things Cope did was to trim the number executives down from 17 to 12.”
Now, “BCE Inc.’s move to slash 2,500 management jobs or six per cent of its workforce is likely just the beginning as the company prepares to go private, say analysts,” says the Toronto Star.
“Canada’s largest telecommunications company announced yesterday that it would cut the management ranks at its Bell Canada phone subsidiary to provide an annual savings of $300 million in salaries.”
It also seems to be doing everything it can to drive customers away, imposing traffic throttling using the specious claim that a tiny minority of P2P users are forcing the action as its excuse.
With the management layoffs, “You can bet your next mobile phone payment there will be more,” the story has industry analyst Carmi Levy saying.
“They are sending a message that they intend to be lean and mean, but they’re not going to stop there. The new owners expect a return and they know they won’t get it if Bell sticks to the status quo.”
On the ground, Bell has struggled to defend its land-line franchise, where it has lost more than one million customers in the last three years, says the Montreal Gazette, continuing:
“Now it faces an intensifying battle at its underperforming wireless operation after the federal government’s recent auction of wireless spectrum, opening up providers to more competition.
“In wireless, cable operator Vidéotron is shaping up to be just as daunting a foe in Quebec as it has been in landline phones.”
What’s coming up? And is Bell bandwidth management specialist Mirko ‘Mr5%’ Bibic on the list?
No names have been released and, “They’ve done the management ranks now,” according to Iain Grant, managing director of research firm SeaBoard Group.
“There are still 30,000 employees at Bell who are not management.”
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.Stumble It!
Ottawa Gal – Bell Canada: is a new uprising nigh?, July 18, 2008
Toronto Star – , July 29, 2008
drive customers away – p2pnet trafic shaping digest, April 19, 2008
Montreal Gazette -Another swing of the axe for Bell, July 29, 2008
Mr5% – Bell Canada tries to justify throttling, April 19, 200
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July 29th, 2008 at 8:17 am
ok. 300 million/2500 = $120,000/per manager. Managers they apparanetly did not need. Wonder how they lost money.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
non unionized employee’s are getting no raise this year.
Bet that fairs well with them…