Altice USA confirmed today that it is shuttering a Cablevision call center in Shelton, Connecticut, as well as back-office operations in nearby Stratford, a move that will impact 600 jobs.
“Over the last few years, there have been investments and enhancements to our Optimum products and services, making them more reliable and providing more customer service touch points than ever before,” Altice spokeswoman Lisa Anselmo said in a statement. “As a result, we have seen a significant improvement in customer call volume and patterns. As we look to strengthen our operations in the nation’s most competitive market, we are aligning our contact center organization to meet the current needs of our customers.”
Affected employees will be provided severance and outplacement services, and they’re be able to re-apply for other positions within Altice.
The news comes after Altice confirmed that 81 employees were impacted by the closure of a Suddenlink call center in Greenville, N.C. Altice also said that 100 positions have been eliminated at Cablevision’s Bethpage, N.Y. headquarters.
The closing is part of an ongoing series of cost-saving moves for Altice, which closed on its $9.1 billion purchase of Suddenlink in January, and its $17.7 billion acquisition of Cablevision in May.
During Altice’s second-quarter earnings call with investors this morning, Altice USA Chairman and CEO Dexter Goei said the company will continue to walk a fine line, reducing costs by dropping what he called “non-core” projects like Cablevision’s Wi-Fi calling platform Freewheel, while investing in core products to improve margins and customer churn.
“The expected budget for Optimum was down as many projects were terminated,” Goei said during today’s earnings call. “We continue to push forward with a strong upgrade of the asset going forward.”
For more:
- read this WTNH-TV story
- read this Hartford Courant story
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