Nokia has revealed plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs worldwide to make savings that it can reinvest in cementing its role as a key supplier of 5G technology.

The Finnish telecoms company’s restructuring will see staff numbers fall from 90,000 to 80,000-85,000 over a period of up to two years.

Nokia said the cuts would take place across all the different divisions of its business though did not specify the numbers of roles to be axed in each of the countries where it operates.

However the company told Sky News that a consultation in the UK was currently expected to cover an estimated 96 roles.

France, where the company cut more than a thousand jobs last year, is excluded from the current shake-up.

Nokia expects the restructuring to reduce costs by €600m a year by 2023.

Chief executive Pekka Lundmark said: “Decisions that may have a potential impact on our employees are never taken lightly.

“Ensuring we have the right setup and capabilities is a necessary step to deliver sustainable long-term performance.”

Nokia said the savings made through the restructuring would “offset increased investments in R&D, future capabilities and costs related to salary inflation”.

Once the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, Nokia was caught out by the rise of smartphones and eclipsed by the likes of Apple and Samsung.

It sold its entire handset business to Microsoft in 2014 though held on to its phone patents and in 2016 struck a deal with another company, HMD Global, allowing them to sell phones under the Nokia brand.

Today, Nokia’s focus is on telecoms network equipment.

It is increasing investments in 5G – the new generation of broadband technology, where it competes with Huawei, Ericsson and Samsung – as well as in cloud and digital infrastructure.

Mr Lundmark, who took over as boss last year, announced a new strategy in October under which Nokia is split into four business groups and will do “whatever it takes” to take the lead in 5G.

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