Telecom Namibia says a voluntary retrenchment exercise, which was started in May this year as part of its efforts to reduce overall expense and increase efficiency, was concluded and 163 people will leave at the end of this month. No single employee was forced to take the voluntary separation package, according to its PRO, Norman Tjombe. At the same time, the company reserved the right to approve or disapprove an application. A total of 221 Telecom employees applied for voluntary separation and 163 applications were approved while 58 applications were disapproved. The exercise effectively reduced staff numbers from 1,406 to 1,243, according to Tjombe. The voluntary separation was a difficult but necessary action to operate the business more efficiently, streamline organisation and align the skill base with future needs in the rapidly changing telecommunications industry, Tjombe added. Meanwhile Telecom announced that it would not increase its tariffs. From next month, tariffs will remain the same.