JT has announced plans to trial broadband speeds which are up to 500 times faster than currently on offer, before the end of this year. The initiative is called “Gigabit Jersey” and would give the Island the fastest speed on offer anywhere in the world.
Delivering “Gigabit Jersey” will take a considerable investment in the Island’s infrastructure, and so will take up to five years to complete – but with trials beginning this year, JT plans to begin implementing it as soon as possible. Increasing broadband speeds by up to 500 times will revolutionise the internet user experience for both Islanders and for businesses. For example it would make the downloading of high definition movies much quicker and smoother, and facilitate vastly improved communication over the internet.
The investment in the Island’s infrastructure will see the transition from the old copper wire technology which will become obsolete, to fibre-optic cabling, which is capable of carrying hugely increased amounts of data.
Since it was incorporated in 2002 the JT Group has already invested £7m in an undersea fibreoptic cable (Project Liberty) linkin§ g the Channel Islands with the UK, as well as £11m to upgrade the fixed line telephone network. In that time the Group has also retuned more than £100m to the States in terms of taxes and dividends.
“Gigabit Jersey is about setting out our vision for the telecommunications future of the Island”, said the Group’s CEO Graeme Millar. “We’re not going to get there overnight – but the first step is to accept that we can do more, and then to set out where we want to get to. We will begin trialling speeds up to 500 times quicker this year, with the plan to deliver that speed to the vast majority of homes and businesses within the next five years”.
“To do that we will have to make further considerable investment in the Islands infrastructure – with the right support, and a stable regulatory environment, we will be able to do that. JT already has an excellent track record both of investment in Jersey and of making a substantial return to our shareholder, the States of Jersey”.
“The way people use the internet is changing rapidly, with so many more useful services being delivered online – Jersey can be a world leader in that, and JT plans to deliver the broadband speeds necessary to make it happen”.