London, August 20 (RHC)-- Britain's telecom giant, Vodafone, has announced that it is planning to lay off as many as 1,300 employees from its Spanish division. The figure is approximately one-fifth of the company’s workforce. The Spanish division of the company acquired cable provider, ONO, last year.

Officials of Vodafone Espana and ONO have announced that they will engage in month-long negotiations with labor unions in September to obtain "the best agreement possible for employees and both companies."

According to the company’s statement, "the collective dismissal procedures will affect a maximum of 1,300 people" out of a total of around 6,100 in Vodafone and ONO in Spain. The statement added: "The procedures are part of the integration process of Vodafone and ONO."

ONO, a company providing phone and Internet services, was bought by Vodafone for 7.2 billion euros (USD 8.0 billion) last year. Since that time, Vodafone has been integrating ONO's cable network into its own wireless services.

According to company sources, the layoffs were necessary as a result of the merger and in order to pave the way for essential investments by the company.

Reduction in both companies’ revenues in a market, which is still recovering from an economic crisis, has been mentioned as another reason for the layoff plan.