Guernsey Press

Broadband – where small is powerful

IT IS notable, looking at the global broadband speed league table, to see the kind of countries which are leading the pack.

Published

Unlike most football league tables, it’s not the superpowers, the behemoths, who lead the way.

In the broadband world, it’s the upstarts, the small jurisdictions, the light-on-their-feet, flexible, masters-of-their-own-destiny countries who are at the head of the game.

In the top 10 you will find Liechtenstein, Andorra, Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Monaco. It’s no surprise to find that small countries have had the vision, and the opportunity to act on it, to make this a reality.

The intention is now that within five years, Guernsey will have finally made it into the promotion spots too.

The island may be late to the party on fibre broadband, but it seems better late than never.

Clearly, the public-private partnership with Sure to progress the work – funded one-third by the government, two-thirds by the telco – is a significant step forward, not just for what it brings to the community, but the prospect of further arrangements between public and private sector.

These kind of arrangements are often derided, and will not suit all projects, but for Guernsey to demonstrate flexibility and a much-needed opportunity to share financial burden on certain projects must be considered a strength.

Deputy Peter Ferbrache, president of the Policy & Resources Committee, has highlighted the benefits to the community and especially the business community in this investment.

We should hope that we do all see the benefits, but also, that public money secures the connections of this project and enables it to continue to run on time and on budget.

The UK – currently one place above us in the global rankings – had very ambitious plans to extend its ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband across the whole country by the end of 2025 now seemingly watered down.

With Sure already recruiting for staff and starting its pilot scheme of installations today, the project certainly has momentum behind it.