Virgin Media O2 braces for up to 4,000 job cuts as debt bites

Virgin Media O2 is preparing to cut up to 4,000 jobs as it grapples with its debt pile, according to UK national press reports. The scale of the reductions should surface on Tuesday, when the operator presents third-quarter results — though Sky News expects confirmation in financial terms rather than a raw headcount number.

VMO2 has declined to comment. The unions haven't. Prospect and the CWU were quick to voice concern about what the future holds for the workforce. Watch this space, as they say in the trade.

The timing could be better. BT recently won government approval to absorb ailing fixed-line provider TalkTalk, strengthening its hand. Meanwhile VMO2's own move to buy altnet Netomnia through its Nexfibre joint venture is getting a closer look than it bargained for: the Competition and Markets Authority has opened an in-depth probe. One competitor gets a green light; VMO2 gets a magnifying glass. Nobody said UK telecom regulation was fair.

What's happening with 6G in Sweden?

Telia is running outdoor 6G trials with Ericsson ahead of the technology's expected commercial arrival, which Ericsson pegs at somewhere between 2030 and 2032. The trials will measure coverage, signal performance, uplink capacity, reliability and latency, drawing on Ericsson's 6G capabilities in the upper 6GHz band. Also on the agenda: "integrating sensing," where networks detect and respond to their physical surroundings. Whether that turns into revenue by 2030 is a question the industry hasn't quite answered yet.

Telefónica hands call centres to TP

Telefónica Deutschland has agreed to sell two of its call centres — one in Bremen, one in Rostock — to TP, the digital business services outfit formerly known as Teleperformance. If the deal closes, the operator keeps just three call centres in Germany. Around 430 Telefónica employees are affected. Telefónica calls it a "transformation process," responding to shifting customer behaviour and — surprise — the impact of AI on services.

Who else made moves this week?

• TIM: Telecom Italia's enterprise arm has bought a 70% stake in unified communications company VoiSmart. TIM says the deal cuts its reliance on third-party technologies and strengthens customers' digital sovereignty, giving them more control over platforms, data and communication processes.
• Finnair: Eutelsat's OneWeb low-Earth orbit constellation will provide inflight broadband for the airline. The agreement covers 18 Embraer E2 aircraft fitted with OneWeb-based connectivity. The network already serves more than ten airlines worldwide — Eutelsat ordered another 340 OneWeb satellites earlier this year.
• BT: The operator says it has finished, ahead of schedule, its upgrade of the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) programme, improving public sector connectivity across more than 5,000 sites in Scotland. BT won the £350 million ($469 million) contract in 2023.

Who's running the GSMA board?

The GSMA has re-elected Bharti Airtel's Gopal Vittal as chair for the 2027-2028 board term. MTN's Ralph Mupita returns as co-deputy chair, while Vodafone's Margherita Della Valle joins the board for the first time as the other co-deputy chair.

Back in the UK, Tuesday's results presentation will show how VMO2 frames the cuts — and whether 4,000 becomes the number or just the noise.