Base fighting fit insists boss

18 March 2004

BRUSSELS -Belgian mobile telephone operator Base is in good shape despite the fact that it this month announced swathing job cuts and was forced to accept a multi-million cash bail-out from its parent company, the firm’s boss insisted on Thursday.

Base chief Stan Miller told the CeBit international mobile telephone conference in Hanover, Germany, that his firm was still on track to meet its key business targets.

The company, Belgium’s third-largest mobile telephone operator, has signed up 20,000 new customers since October 2003 and has now captured 16 percent of the Belgian market, he said.

The firm wants a 20 percent market share by the end of 2005.

Commenting on the recent EUR 600 million cash bail-out from Base’s parent company, Dutch telephone operator KPN, Miller said the move showed KPN “fully supports us in our efforts to meet our objectives.”

Many analysts saw the KPN bail-out as a make or break gesture and suggested that the Dutch firm may shut Base down if it does not manage to turn its fortunes around soon.

Subject: Belgian news