MONTREAL 鈥� BCE Inc. is cutting nine per cent of its workforce or about 4,800 jobs, including journalists and other workers at its Bell Media subsidiary.
It is also selling off 45 of its 103 regional radio stations. The affected stations are in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
BCE says in an open letter signed by chief executive Mirko Bibic that jobs "at all levels of the company" would be cut and that it will use vacancies and natural attrition to minimize layoffs as much as possible.
The company says it could also further scale back network spending as it remains at loggerheads with the CRTC over what it calls "predetermined" regulatory direction.
Hearings are scheduled next week by the federal telecom regulator as part of a review into the rates smaller internet competitors pay the major carriers for network access.
Thursday's announcement marks the second major layoff at the media and telecommunications giant since last spring, when six per cent of Bell Media jobs were eliminated and nine radio stations were either shuttered or sold.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)
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