UK operator Everything Everywhere has announced plans to cut 550 head office and support roles – about 4 percent of the company’s workforce – in Bristol, Darlington, Hatfield and London Paddington.

The redundancies will take place at the company which runs the Orange and T-Mobile networks in the UK over the “coming months” according to the company. The plans will mainly impact head office functions with customer-facing teams unaffected. A 90 day consultation phase on the redundancy proposals is currently taking place.

“Following a review of its business, Everything Everywhere has announced proposed organisational changes to support the company as it transitions from integrating two businesses to a new phase focused on accelerating the delivery of the company ambitions. The new structure will help the company become more agile and ensure it is keeping in touch with customers’ needs,” Everything Everywhere said in a statement.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) said staff were “paying a massive price” with the job cuts. It believes the job losses will affect 14 percent of directly-employed support staff along with a further 15 percent of support roles being lost through agency staff contracts being terminated.

"We predicted large job losses when the merger was announced and redundancies in support roles will not come as a great shock to most staff, but that doesn't make it any easier for those people affected,” CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said. However, Kerr added that the company has told the CWU that there are no plans to cut front line staff in call centres and shops or to close buildings.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that a Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee report has said Everything Everywhere could make substantial profits from the UK 4G spectrum auction and should ringfence the money it makes for future investment.

The company is required to sell some of the 1,800MHz spectrum it holds as a condition of its creation 18 months ago. An Everything Everywhere spokeswoman quoted by the newspaper said the company currently pays £33 million per year to the government for the spectrum. “It is our intention that all proceeds from the sale of this spectrum will be invested into our UK network to benefit our customers across the country," she said.

The UK 4G spectrum auction has been repeatedly delayed due to operators disagreeing with Ofcom’s plans for how the auction should be conducted.