100 jobs are being axed at Ericsson in Co. Westmeath.

The company is planning to reduce its 700-strong workforce in Athlone by February of next year.

The loses will be across a number of areas including management,administration, coordinating support and legacy technology.

The company says mandatory redundancies will only be sought if it cannot achieve the figure through re-deployment and voluntary redundancies.

In a statement Ericsson says the Athlone site continues to be a strategic Research and Development centre for the firm and will remain an integral part of its overall portfolio.

Further cuts

The company supplies equipment and services to mobile and fixed network operators.

Over 1,000 networks in more than 180 countries use theirequipment and more than 40% of global mobile traffic passes through Ericsson networks.

Seperatly the firm has announced plans today to cut around 1,550 positions in its home base of Sweden.

Ericsson informed employees there about the plan to reduce its operations that involves a reduction in all job areas including sales, general and administration, research and development, supply and service delivery.

The group is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ, New York stock exchanges.