WORLD-class high-speed broadband should be available in every Island home as soon as possible, the Treasury Minister said today.
Senator Philip Ozouf has asked Jersey Telecom to investigate the feasibility of such a goal as part of a new drive to make the utility company work harder for Islanders. He says he wants to make sure that Jersey does not fall behind other parts of the world.
However, upgrading the Island’s telephone and communications systems and replacing old copper wire with the latest fibre-optic technology could be very expensive and lead to many miles of cables having to be dug up and replaced. New cables would mean that Islanders could enjoy internet access at speeds up to 50 times faster than are currently available locally. At present Islanders can download from the internet at speeds of up to two MB a second. Fibre-optic cabling could increase that speed to 100 MB a second.
It is not yet clear how such a major project would be funded. As Treasury Minister, Senator Ozouf has partial responsibility for the utility companies Jersey Telecom, Jersey Post, Jersey Electricity Company and Jersey Water, which are all at least partly owned by the States.
