Final testing of faster broadband services will
begin next week.
Cable & Wireless engineers have installed
new equipment and software at all seven Bailiwick exchanges to
provide faster internet access for all local broadband customers.
The operator will now work with local Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) to trial the new services before completing the final
upgrade.
The trial is expected to take around four
weeks, and will involve several hundred households from around the
Bailiwick. Households will be randomly selected, and those chosen
should be notified by their ISP. Following successful testing a
full Bailiwick-wide roll-out will commence.
Russell Sharman, Cable & Wireless’ Chief
Technical Officer, said:
“We are delighted to be entering the final
stage of this project. Cable & Wireless has been proactive in
committing £2.5 million to upgrade broadband speeds at no cost to
our wholesale customers, and this work has created a platform for
even faster browsing in the future.”
The upgrade will double the speed of the
current 1 Mb/s (megabit per second) and 2 Mb/s wholesale broadband
products. However, the price to local ISPs will stay the same, even
though they will be receiving a faster service.
The company will also be introducing a range of
new wholesale products, including a service that allows download
speeds of up to 8 Mb/s. That is four times the current maximum
download speed, and is expected to be welcomed by heavy broadband
users, including businesses.
Mr Sharman said: “Our original schedule was to
complete this work by 31 March. However, in our initial testing we
experienced some technical challenges which we have been working
with Cisco, the software manufacturer, to resolve. We regret the
delay, but we cannot rush this process as it is a complex project,
and will provide significant benefits to broadband users. We will
provide further update on this project.”
“The current broadband service is both good and
reliable and as a responsible operator we will not complete the
upgrade until we are confident that there will be a better browsing
experience with no disruption to existing provision.”
For a 2Mb service, customers generally need to
be within 4km (kilometres) of their exchange, and for an 8Mb
service within 2.5km. Any further away and they are likely to
experience slower speeds.
Currently around 90% of homes in the island are
less than 4km from their exchange, so should be able to receive 2Mb
service without any problems. However Cable & Wireless is also
applying for permission to install new broadband exchange equipment
in roadside cabinets at various points around the island.
This will initially bring all homes within the
4km limit, and eventually within 2.5km, to enable all island
households to access the faster services.