ANOTHER RINGING VICTORY FOR GBIC: HELLO? HELLO?

(T-Mobile opened its Brownsville facility in 2007, investing $17.5 million in a 78,000-square-foot facility on Paredes Line Road.The Greater Brownsville Incentive Corp. gave T-Mobile $3.5 million in job creation incentives, an investment of 4A sales tax dollars to support job creation that was to be paid out over five years. A reader wants to know: What's going to happen now, exactly five years after the incentives were given? Has industry wised up to us and are playing us for fools?)

T-Mobile announces closure of call center in Brownsville

March 22, 2012 9:49 PM

By LAURA B. MARTINEZ

The Brownsville Herald

T-Mobile USA has announced the closing of several of its call centers, including the one in Brownsville.The company plans to consolidate its centers to 17, down from 24, by the end of June, officials said in a press release.

The Brownsville Customer Care Center employs 473 people. It will maintain its normal hours until being closed in June.

Employees learned of the closing about the same time as the press release reached local media. There were reports of employees in tears after learning they would soon be out of a job.

Officials said employees in Brownsville have the option of transferring to T-Mobile’s Customer Care Center in Mission, which is the company’s only other call center in Texas. They may also transfer to a T-Mobile center in another part of the country.

According to the press release, no other T-Mobile operations in Brownsville are affected by the changes.

"Concentrating call centers is an important step to achieve competitive cost structures to successfully compete as a challenger and value player in the wireless market," Philipp Humm, CEO and president of T-Mobile, said. "These are not easy steps to take, but they are necessary to realize efficiency in order to invest for growth.

"T-Mobile says employees who choose not to transfer to a another call center, and who are employed on the date the Brownsville center closes, will be offered transition packages that include severance pay and outplacement support.

The company will pay for two months of continued health care coverage for eligible employees who elect COBRA benefits.T-Mobile opened its Brownsville facility in 2007, investing $17.5 million in a 78,000-square-foot facility on Paredes Line Road.The Greater Brownsville Incentive Corp. gave T-Mobile $3.5 million in job creation incentives, an investment of 4A sales tax dollars to support job creation that was to be paid out over five years.

In January, the unemployment rate in Brownsville was listed at 11.9 percent, one of the highest jobless rates in the state.