OTE plans human resource management
BONN – OTE telecom, controlled by Deutsche Telekom, plans to step up talks with union groups over a headcount reduction in May, the company said yesterday. «Certainly it is absolutely necessary to address this matter,» OTE CEO Panagis Vourloumis told reporters in Bonn, Germany, referring to job cuts. «We are not in advanced talks with the unions. After May we will [hold discussions] with them, when they have finished with their elections.» The head of Greece’s largest telecom firm noted the company is overstaffed in some areas but lacks the proper manpower in other departments. He did not give any estimates on the size of the possible job cuts. Meanwhile, OTE also said yesterday it has launched the Apple iPhone 3G, the first product from its cooperation with the German telecom giant. «With the commercial deal of the iPhone 3G, Cosmote is inaugurating a series of synergies with Deutsche Telekom at a commercial level,» the company said in a statement, without giving any financial details. OTE’s mobile subsidiary, Cosmote, will offer the product in Greece and Bulgaria. Cosmote is also present in Albania, Romania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. After Deutsche Telekom took control of OTE last year, the two companies have been working together in about 80 areas in a bid to locate synergies, ranging from developing commercial products to improving communication within the group. «We had tried to get the deal for iPhone in the past, before Deutsche Telekom, but couldn’t due to the small size of the company. We are starting to see benefits for the consumer,» added a company source.
