Vodafone cutting back in Australia

MOBILE phones group Vodafone is to sell assets in Australia and could slash up to half of its workforce there as part of a restructuring aimed at halving operational costs.

The company, Australia's third-ranked mobile operator with a 19% market share, has confirmed reports that it had embarked on an extensive review of its Australian operations.

A leaked internal memo from new chief operating officer Graham Maher claimed Vodafone would need to reduce staff levels by 50% to bring it into line with 'other businesses of the same or similar size'.

A Vodafone spokeswoman said it was pondering asset sales and redundancies, but played down claims that half of the 2,500 workforce would lose their jobs in one fell swoop. 'We need to reduce our operating expenditure by 50%, that will mean positions will become redundant over time,' the spokesw oman said. The move had been forced by the 'challenging times' facing the mobile sector.

Although it has nearly one fifth of the A$10bn (£3.5bn)-a-year mobile industry, speculation has mounted in recent months that Vodafone could quit Australia as a result of its failure to increase its market share. Vodafone has denied those rumours.