Month: October 2019

Jersey’s Minister for External Relations, Senator Ian Gorst, recently met some of JT’s key North American customers at a reception in New York, hosted by Graeme Millar, JT’s CEO.

Although JT’s roots are firmly in the Channel Islands, today 70% of the company’s business is outside its home market, a proportion which is growing each year. JT employs over 600 people in seven offices around the world, serving over 6 million subscribers globally, with its largest International market being North America.

The JT reception took place during Senator Gorst’s visit to the United States, to open Jersey Finance’s New York office. The Minister also visited Washington DC this week, to attend meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The Minister and his team met CEO and Senior Executives from JT’s North American customers that had come from California, Chicago and New England to attend the event.

Senator Gorst said: “It is very important that Jersey fully supports the expansion of island businesses beyond our own shores. At home, JT is well-known for delivering the world’s first countrywide full-fiber network that currently delivers the 3rd fastest Broadband speeds in the world. Beyond local shores, JT is also an example of a company that is successfully developing innovative services that allow it to compete internationally. It was a real pleasure for me to see this first-hand and meet JT’s North American customers and the senior JT team in the United States that is helping to promote Jersey on the world stage.”

JT’s vision to bring world-class connectivity to everyone in Jersey has earned the Island’s full-fibre network a shortlisting in the ‘Biggest Broadband Social Impact’ category at the prestigious Broadband World Forum Awards 2019.

Since completion in late 2018, JT’s project, which established a world first by committing to provide a full-fibre network to all Jersey premises, has opened the door to digital innovation across the Island. From transformations in education, to smart technology in farming and has generated new revenue streams for financial services.

Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture,
Senator Lyndon Farnham said: “Jersey’s success and growth as an international digital centre of excellence is thanks in no small part to the capability and reliability of our full-fibre network. However, its reach goes well beyond the immediate economic benefits to the Island and includes all areas of social importance to Jersey. We look forward to making full use of this valuable asset for all walks of island life.”

Graeme Millar, JT’s CEO, said: “Our objective was to open the door to digital possibilities for every Islander and every local business, providing the connectivity to flourish and make world-wide connections. I am incredibly proud of JT’s teams whose expertise and commitment made this possible. The accessibility and world-class broadband speeds now enjoyed by everyone in Jersey is a testament to their hard work and the patience of our customers, as we delivered the largest infrastructure project the island has ever seen.”

The global Broadband World Forum Awards is the communications’ industry’s biggest and most prestigious recognition of excellence with the shortlist including many leading household names. The conference, exhibition and awards which make up the forum are taking place in Amsterdam on 15 – 17 October.

After an impressive six-week internship, Elizabeth College student, Kieran Aslett, has been awarded a bursary by his JT mentors. This helping hand towards his study costs is in recognition of his genuine interest in digital technology and the bright future that lies ahead of him.

Kieran joined JT having applied successfully for the Digital Greenhouse Discover Digital Summer Internship which JT has supported for the past three years. He spent six weeks working with a number of the company’s departments.

Andy Holmes, JT’s Talent Program Manager said: “As a business we believe it is really important for us to play a part in nurturing young talent. Committed and interested young people like Kieran represent the future of digital technology and we are privileged to have had the opportunity to share our knowledge with him and are really pleased that we can contribute to resources which will help him take those first steps in his career.”

JT offers several bursaries each year to young people in the Channel Islands in areas of study including science, technology, engineering, maths and some business disciplines and over the last five years has financially supported 32 young people across Guernsey and Jersey.  During the summer months of 2019, 15 bursary students have benefitted from fully paid work within various departments across the company and, to date, four students have returned to work with JT on a permanent basis. 40% of our local students supported by our JT’s bursaries over the past 5 years have returned to the islands to live and work in the technology sector.

Kieran said that the internship gave him a good insight into the collaborative working between departments. “It was surprising to me how much interaction there was between departments like sales and engineering. The reality is that they share information all the time to come to a solution together, looking at design and analysing the information before tackling an issue.”

Kieran, who has plans to study cyber security in higher education, said that he had an interest in networking and so particularly enjoyed working with CISCO engineering while at JT but had found the mentoring in all the teams especially beneficial.

“It was never just about me sitting and watching what was going on, that’s not the JT way. The mentoring was fantastic, and I was given the chance to do real work, take part and ask questions. It was an exciting opportunity and worked very naturally. The bursary announcement came as a complete surprise on my second to last day – I hadn’t expected that at all but it’s great news, it’s so nice to know that the team at JT value my contribution” said Kieran.

Paul Taylor, Managing Director, JT Guernsey said: “Kieran worked really well with each team he joined during his internship, it was a pleasure to introduce him to our industry. We hope that the JT Bursary will ensure that he is able to make the most out of what a university degree has to offer him and, one day, bring those skills back to Guernsey and JT.”

The Discover Digital Summer Internship is open to all post-16 students, in full-time education, who have a passion for digital and a desire to work on digital projects with some of the Guernsey’s leading companies.

About JT Bursaries 

The JT Bursary scheme provides local students a £2000 financial grant towards the cost of university fees and expenses as well as offering a challenging six weeks of fully paid work experience during holiday periods. University subjects considered for a JT bursary are generally science, technology, engineering and maths. Applications can be made online from January each year through the JT website or contact hrinbox@jtglobal.com for further information.