Telecom Italia, the debt-laden Italian operator, said this morning it will slash its workforce by a further 4,000 and seek to sell-off non-core assets worth as much as €3 billion as part of a strategy to reduce costs. Updating analysts on the operator’s three-year (2009 to 2011) business plan in London this morning, CEO Franco Bernabe said that Telecom Italia was committed to its core Italian business and fast-growing Brazilian operation but hinted that all other assets could be sold under the right conditions. According to an Associated Press report, the 4,000 job cuts are in addition to the 5,000 announced in June, and will reduce Telecom Italia’s workforce in total by 14 percent from 64,000 to 55,000. Bernabe said the number of managers would be cut in half as the company seeks to simplify its organisation.

In an earlier statement, Telecom Italia said that 2009 revenue would be in line with 2008 (around €30.4 billion) but raised its forecast for revenue growth over the three-year period to above 2 percent annually. It also plans to lower its current debt load, which stood at some €35.8 billion at the end of September, to around 2.3 times EBITDA by 2011. Assets tipped to be sold-off include Telecom Italia’s German broadband subsidiary, Hansenet, and its Cuban mobile business, Cubacel (Etecsa). However, Bernabe reiterated his support for TIM Brasil, the Brazilian mobile operator that has been a key growth generator for Telecom Italia in recent years.