Telefonica Deutschland seeks EUR5bn in synergies from E-Plus merger, plans to shed 18% of workforce by 2018

German telco Telefonica Deutschland, which closed out the EUR8.55 billion (USD11.9 billion) takeover of Dutch telecom operator KPN’s German mobile unit E-Plus at the start of this month, has announced plans to reduce its workforce by around 18% (i.e. 1,600 jobs) by 2018, as it looks to implement cost savings at the enlarged group. In a statement, the Spanish-owned German group said: ‘The planned measures shall contribute to achieving the announced synergies of more than EUR5 billion.’ Telefonica Deutschland’s merger with E-Plus, which has created a mobile operator with more than 47 million customer connections, was cleared by the European Commission (EC) in July after the German firm promised to make parts of its network available to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). However, local industry watchers are concerned that the reduction in network operators from four to three, will adversely impact end user mobile access prices – already among the highest in Europe.