KPN prunes Belgian mobile sub

Around 200 jobs are to be axed at Base, the Belgian mobile outfit wholly owned by Dutch telco KPN.

Execs want to ensure that Base focuses on its "core activities" so that it can "substantially grow its customer base in the coming years". It also plans to outsource some of the company's non-core activities.

However, the cull among the 930 staff is seen as tough measure to help keep the company going. This weekend Base received a €600m from its parent, KPN, to keep it ticking over.

In a statement the company said: "Through partnerships and outsourcing with specialist companies, Base intends to reduce its fixed costs, focus on its specific core activities and gain efficiencies through its specialist partners.

"The management of Base intends to further implement this strategy and gain efficiencies through its partners, in close dialogue with the workers’ representatives."

Based in Brussels, Base has 1.25m punters and 15 per cent market share. Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign targeting niche groups ,it added 91,000 new punters in Q4, a trend which, it says, has continued during the first months of this year.

In a separate announcement, KPN CFO Maarten Henderson is to step down from the company at the end of the year after deciding to "continue his career outside the company". ®