Saturday, November 22, 2008

Freenet chief must change its master plan

Of course all had expected a bang. As the telecommunications company Freenet in April the acquisition of the much larger mobile service provider Debitel announced, made Freenet chief Eckhard Spoerr no secret of the fact. 50 million euros should be saved and an unspecified number of jobs should be deleted. Since Thursday is clear: It is 1000 jobs, which is now eliminated. The location Kemble is abandoned.

Spoerr has so far adhered to its timetable, perhaps something more radical than many had expected. However, the lurch into Schwabe now. On the one hand, the integration is not as it Debitel many employees had hoped. Spoerr has its chief Oliver pitched virtually rausgekegelt, although about different versions circulating. This makes them an important figure lost identity. The chance for a harmonious combination is playful.

Now it Spoerr also not a cuddle task. But strategically it is not running as he wished. The Debitel buy him a debt mountain of 1.3 billion euro brings. In the economic crisis pushes this burden, the company doubly difficult course.

In order to reduce the debt, Spoerr wanted to sell its broadband business. But the process is to become a disaster. Many interested parties have a brief look at the books enough to quickly averted. The value of Freenet customers do not come near the price, which Spoerr vorschwebe, it says in the industry. How difficult principle, the migration of foreign customers in their own business, has Hansenet after the AOL takeover shown. Spoerr now must hurry to sell and possibly cheaper. Meanwhile melts its DSL customer base continues to decline.

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