There are opportunities for reskilling as part of the investment that the companies plan to make through the merger, Mr Essam said.
"So it's very early today to talk about job losses, but clearly this case is about investment. And with investment there will be direct and indirect benefit from employment." Any"impacted roles" would go through"proper consultation and proper process", he added, but said there is also"a lot of room for reskilling".Advertisement
An £11bn investment has been promised by executives over the next 10 years along with the creation of 8,000 and 12,000 new jobs in the wider economy.The money will go towards building a"best-in-class" 5G network, Three and Vodafone said. It is because of the benefit to consumers that Mr Essam said he believes regulators will approve the deal. It will add a"third big challenger" to providers O2 and BT-owned EE, he said.