Mobile-phone firm O2 Ireland is seeking 100 redundancies from its staff in Dublin in a development that follows moves by its biggest rival Vodafone to let 80 staff go.
As a spate of redundancies from international employers continues, workers at O2 are likely to be told this morning that the firm wants to reduce its Irish staff of 1,800 by some 5.5 per cent.
It was unclear last night whether there would be any compulsory redundancies from the company which has some 1.6 million subscribers.
Originally part of Denis O'Brien's Esat business, O2 Ireland was acquired in January 2006 by the Spanish group, Telefónica.
O2 declined to comment on its plans, which follow the conclusion of an annual review of the Irish operation. Long dominant in the Irish market, O2 and Vodafone have been under increased competitive pressure in a saturated market as the third-largest player, Meteor, strengthens.
Now controlled by Eircom, Meteor took the bulk of the growth in the Irish market last year. Following the addition of more than 250,000 customers, its subscriber base now exceeds 800,000.
Both O2 and Vodafone have seen their monthly average revenue per user decline, with that of O2 falling to €45 in the third quarter last year, from €46 in the previous period and €47 in the same period in 2005.
O2 is striving to expand its business by reaching an agreement with supermarket group Tesco to introduce a mobile virtual network operator service from next summer, the first such initiative in the Irish market.
The company also held abortive takeover talks last year with Perlico, the privately-held broadband and fixed-line provider.
The job cuts at O2, whose Irish headquarters are located at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, come on the back of numerous redundancies in high-tech companies throughout the State.
Within the past 10 days, four international organisations confirmed plans to make hundreds of workers redundant in Munster.
US electronics and mobile-phone group Motorola is closing its Cork operation with the loss of 330 jobs. US group Procter & Gamble is seeking 280 job cuts at its plant in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and another US group, Bourns Electronics, is seeking 80 redundancies in Cork city.
Canadian group Thomson Scientific last week confirmed plans to make 200 of its staff in Limerick redundant.
