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JT says a new full-fibre network will serve the island well for generations, while Airtel-Vodafone has announced its entry into the fixed line broadband market.
Both companies said they will be working with the States to ensure “fair and equitable for all service providers” on the network.
The States has said there will evidently need to be “Chinese walls” between Sure as wholesaler of the £37.5m network, and Sure as a retailer of that infrastructure.
JT Managing Director Daragh McDermott welcomed efforts to ensure that whole-island coverage is completed by 2026, via a proposal to commit £12.5m of public money to the project to accelerate its progress.
“JT has been rolling out fibre across Guernsey for many years and been a long-term advocate of connecting every property to fibre. As part of this rollout, JT will be offering its minimum broadband speed of 1 Gb/s speeds to all customers.
“We made the first ‘full-fibre’ connection to homes in Guernsey in 2013 and since then have been steadily connecting customers in and around St. Peter Port. This ‘national’ fibre strategy is precisely what is needed to secure the equitable rollout of fibre services and we’re delighted that now seems to be moving forward.”
Sid Ahlawat, CEO of Airtel-Vodafone, said the announcement of the full-fibre plans is an important milestone for Guernsey and the company itself.
“We will be entering the fixed line broadband market using the current infrastructure before Christmas to offer competition, value and choice to Guernsey consumers, much in the same way as we have done with mobile technology.
“We will also be offering our customers a range of innovative fibre products when wholesale fibre access becomes available.
Mr McDermott said the benefits of fibre are well-understood.
“Our experience tells us that full-fibre is a vastly superior service and opens up so many new opportunities both for customers, and for the economy as a whole,” he said.
“There will be some disruption and inconvenience while the infrastructure is built, but it is important for the island to get behind the strategy, as the new network will serve the island well for generations.”
Pictured top: Sid Ahlawat from Airtel-Vodafone and Daragh McDermott from JT.
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