Manx Telecom has insisted it has no plans for redundancies following its recent acquisition under a new joint ownership structure.

Chief executive Gary Lamb said the company, which recently completed a transaction that saw European private equity firm CVC DIF acquire a 55% stake in the business while Jersey Telecom retained 45%, is focused on growth rather than cutting jobs.

The telecoms provider currently employs almost 400 people on the Isle of Man.

‘I don't see this as a big redundancy issue,’ he said. ‘There's an opportunity to grow and reshape the business over time.

‘There is the possibility that people within the business will be moved around as part of that reshaping, but redundancies are not what this acquisition is about.’

The UK government gave final approval for the sale of Manx Telecom last month following what it described as a ‘detailed national security assessment’. The takeover was first announced in October last year.

Mr Lamb said the deal would allow the two telecoms providers to benefit from greater scale while maintaining their separate identities.

‘One of the challenges on the Isle of Man is scale,’ he added. ‘We have a small population, but we have to invest heavily to provide a service to our customers.

‘By bringing the two companies together, you get greater scale. In areas such as procurement and network investment, it becomes much more efficient. Strategically, it's an absolutely perfect fit.

‘With CVC's backing, they bring the ability to invest. They've already talked about how we might invest capital, so it really is about growth.

‘I hope that over time we will see additional services and products by bringing together the best of the two companies.’

The partnership with the JT Group also gives Manx Telecom the opportunity to use its network for customers, which has already begun rolling out 5G services in Jersey.

Mr Lamb confirmed this was being considered, although any implementation on the Isle of Man would not happen before next year.

Despite the new ownership, Mr Lamb stressed the business would not lose its Manx identity.

‘We are Manx Telecom,’ he said. ‘We're a Manx brand, and that's our heritage. That's not going to change.’

Manx Telecom has also reiterated its commitment to replacing the island's ageing copper network with fibre broadband by 2029.

Around two-thirds of island properties are now connected to fibre, but encouraging the remaining customers to switch is becoming ‘increasingly important’ as maintaining the copper network becomes more difficult.

The company is also launching a new home support service, with a team of five staff visiting customers whose properties have blocked underground ducts or buried copper cabling preventing a standard fibre connection.

‘We've set up a team of five people who will go around in vans and help people optimise what they've got in their homes so they get the best experience they can,’ Mr Lamb said.

‘We've also invested in new technology so we'll be able to monitor the performance of people's home networks remotely.’