First family to get fibre broadband are delighted
GUERNSEY’S first customers for the new fibre broadband network have been connected.
The move follows a successful initial trial of the broadband technology last year.
Now Sure is carrying out the pilot stage of the £37m. five-year rollout.
This autumn the States agreed to provide a third of the funding for the project, with Sure providing the rest.
Royston and Caroline Gallie are the first customers to be connected to the new fibre network in Guernsey.
Engineers installed the latest technology into Mr and Mrs Gallie’s home in Victoria Avenue in early November.
Mr Gallie said the family have noticed an immediate improvement to their internet speed since the fibre was installed.
‘These faster speeds are great,’ he said.
‘My daughter’s reaction said it all, she came running down the stairs to tell us she had downloaded the new Bond film in one minute 12 seconds, compared to the 40 minutes it would have taken on our old connection. Our daughter used to get frustrated working from home in lockdown when all of us were on the internet at once. Now all four of us can be online at the same time to stream TV, download things and work from home.’
Tom Piprell, the Sure engineer who installed the fibre technology, said: ‘The installation process for Mr and Mrs Gallie went very well and we’re so pleased that they’re happy with their new faster internet speeds.
‘Getting connected to Guernsey fibre needs engineers to install new equipment – a small box on the outside of the house, enabling the external fibre to connect to the network point inside the home so it can connect to people’s router, which then spreads a wifi signal through the property.’
It is aimed that all 30,000 properties in Guernsey will be connected by the end of 2026.
