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Work to expand JT's fibre-optic network in Guernsey remains on course to finish by the end of 2015, JT has announced following the first annual international 'Gimme Fibre Day’ this week.
Work to expand JT's fibre-optic network in Guernsey remains on course to finish by the end of 2015, JT has announced following the first annual international 'Gimme Fibre Day’ this week.
The network will connect sites owned by the States of Guernsey and will pass around a quarter of Island homes and the majority of businesses, creating the option to connect at superfast broadband speeds. Guernsey’s existing network - which runs over copper wires – is owned by Sure, who were bought earlier this year by Batelco group, and who currently do not have any plans to invest in a fibre-optic ultra-fast broadband network to connect every home, as JT have done with their award-winning Gigabit project in Jersey.
The Fibre-To-The-Home Councils Global Alliance has organised 'Gimme Fibre' day to promote the benefits of fibre-optic broadband around the world, and to encourage communities to campaign to operators to invest in fibre technology. The 4th of November was chosen as ‘Gimme Fibre Day’ because it is the birthday of Sir Charles Kuen Kao, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009 for his ground-breaking work in fibre-optics.
Fibre-optic connections allow for more reliable and faster broadband services, enabling not just faster downloads of music, films and games, but also for Skype services, live streaming and ensuring multiple users on a single connection all have a positive user experience.
Managing Director for JT (Guernsey) Paul D. Taylor said that investment in fibre technology was good for business as well as domestic users, and that JT's Gigabit Isles fibre project was expected to open up a host of economic and leisure opportunities.
He said: ‘The real advantages of fibre aren’t just about providing faster speeds, ensuring the user experience for multiple users on a single connection remains positive or even about new products such as video-calls or live streaming; they are about future-proofing a communications infrastructure that is built to last.
‘Making this investment now and installing our own fibre infrastructure, means that we’re ahead of the curve from other jurisdictions across the world and it's one we won't have to replace again in our lifetime.
'It is already encouraging to see how innovators in the Guernsey business community are seeing the possibilities of a new technology and digital sector – we are sure that more and more Islanders will see the possibilities that this project can bring for now and into the future.'
