The huge American telecommunications company AT&T is said to be about to lay off 19,000 workers.

The redundancies, which form 15% of the workforce, are expected to be announced at a meeting on Wall Street, New York, on Monday. The company employs 2,000 people in the UK.

The changes are part of AT&T's preparation to gear up and meet new competition in the local and domestic international telephone markets, as well as internet services.

The rationalisation forms part of the strategy of the company's new chairman, C. Michael Armstrong.

Staff morale is said to be at an all-time low after a decade of downsizing.

AT&T's former chairman planned to make cuts of 40,000 jobs two years ago, but failed to carry them out.

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