Tata Teleservices may cut jobs in northeast

Tata Teleservices, the country's sixth-largest mobile operator, is likely to cut staff in Assam and Northeast following its decision to wind up its loss-making CDMA-based mobile operations in these regions where it has 2.5 lakh customers, executives aware of the development told ET. 

The move comes on the heels of the company's recent decision not to bid for CDMA airwaves in the 800 MHz band in Assam, Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir circles where its mobile permits are valid till January 18, 2013, as they were quashed by the Supreme Court in February. The company did not reply to ET's specific queries on the extent of headcount reduction in the Assam and Northeast circles, its employee relocation strategy or plans to port impacted CDMA customers to other networks. It also did not comment on whether a positive outcome of its curative petition would reverse its winding up decision in Assam and Northeast. 
Company executives, however, claimed Tata Teleservices had internally communicated its decision to stop CDMA operations in Assam and Northeast circles, post-January 18, and hinted at layoffs since any staff relocation to other circles would "strictly hinge on availability of suitable jobs". 

"Members of the leadership team did a townhall meet in Guwahati last week, informing us about the winding up exercise post-January 18, likely to result in sizeable job losses as employee relocation will purely depend on availability of vacancies in other regions," said two middle-level managers based out of Tata Tele's Guwahati office.