‘Our router looks like a space shuttle with three boxes’
TECHNOLOGY in the island took another step forward as Sure got fibre-optic broadband up and running for the first time last week.
Residents at Clos des Isles are undergoing a trial installation period to smooth out any kinks in the cable.
Clos resident David, who wished to withhold his surname, was asked to be the first household to take part in the trial.
‘Everybody in Clos des Isles was sent a letter in October 2019 inviting us to take part in a trial. A head technician emailed to ask if my wife Sue and I were happy to be their first customers to have it,’ said David.
Cable was fed from junction boxes on the clos under their driveway without digging up the road.
‘For some houses they’ll have to do some digging.’
Residents were asked due to their convenient location between the Bridge and Admiral Park.
‘My wife and I aren’t very tech-y. But we thought, if they’re doing it at no charge to us, why not? With technology you have to keep up, and we live along the coast and know the old copper cable has rust. So it was too good an opportunity to miss.’
Upload speeds were levelled around 50-60Mbps.
Download speeds rose from 20Mbps on average to 260Mbps on Thursday morning.
‘My sister has 8Mbps out in St Saviour’s. To have 260Mbps is just amazing.’
Download speeds will vary while Sure tests the system, but theoretically should reach 1,000Mbps maximum.
‘Sure’s engineers were excellent. It is complex and it’s new to them too, but they took their time finding all the right spots. Our router now looks like a space shuttle with three boxes.
‘We’re quiet people but thought people might be interested. This happened in Guernsey and we should all be pleased to start seeing what the future holds. We are one done, with over 20,000 more to go.’
A JT spokesperson said: ‘In Guernsey, JT have over 200 fibre connections and more than 70 of these are to residential addresses. JT is also giving them 1GB speeds during the pandemic, with the standard offer at 500MB.’
Talks are ongoing with the States of Guernsey on supporting the Future of Telecoms strategy appropriately, as JT are committed to support the process of rolling it out.
Objectives of the strategy are to connect business districts to fibre, improve home connections to 100Mbps and to install 5G technology.
One at St Julian’s Avenue was the first domestic property to have fibre connection in 2016.
Other fibre-connected locations include numbers one to 10 at Hanois Block, Royal Terrace, Clos Le Noury and Havelet Waters.
All Jersey premises were fibre connected in 2018.
