Telecommunications

Continuous investment in telecommunications is resulting in a world class Next Generation Network. The latest data centre facilities provide exceptional capacity for hosting and protecting mission critical data. These developments enable the island’s business community to benefit from latest IP applications for faster and more efficient business processes, protected by superior infrastructure resilience.

World class telecommunications infrastructure

The Isle of Man has world-class telecommunications infrastructure and services which cater for the full range of modern corporate voice and data communications requirements. Manx Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of O2plc, part of the Telefonica group - the second largest telecommunications company in the world is the Island’s principal network operator operating advanced fixed and mobile networks across the Island. Both Manx Telecom and Cable & Wireless provide services under telecommunications licenses granted by the Isle of Man Communications Commission and approved by Tynwald and a number of ISPs and IT companies provide corporate network and related services. Manx Telecom has invested in excess of £50 million in infrastructure during the last five years and is committed to a further £30 million in the next three years to provide additional capacity and new services in line with market requirements. As a result of this investment, the Island now has 100% ADSL broadband availability to both households and business premises. Manx Telecom was one of the first operators in the world to offer broadband ADSL services to customers, having become the first in Europe to launch a live 3G network in December 2001. In November 2005, it became the world’s first company to offer a HSDPA (3.5G) service. 2008 will see the launch of NGN (Next Generation Network), the first of its kind in the world. At a cost of £25 million, this will bring the Island all the benefits of fully converged telecommunications and entertainment.

C&W International is a major international telecommunications business. In 34 countries, Cable and Wireless is typically the leading telecom operator and, in most cases, owns and operates the domestic fixed line network and associated international interconnect facilities.

Cable & Wireless has invested over £10m in the Isle of Man to create competition and revolutionise communications through its innovative consumer brand “Sure”.

Sure launched its mobile service in July 2007 and now has over 12,000 customers on its network. Mobile call charges have dropped by up to 33% in 12 months.

The mobile operator has been responsible for a number of other innovations in the past year. Sure is still the only operator to offer tri-island mobile price plans for businesses that have staff travelling regularly across the Channel Islands & Isle of Man. No Sure customers pay roaming charges when in those islands, another saving. It also offers both contract and Pay as you go customers more destinations where they can use their mobile phone when abroad. Sure was the first operator in Europe to launch a Pay as you go service for BlackBerry.

In July 2008 Sure were granted an amended license, meaning that the company are now able to provide an extended range of services across fixed and mobile telecommunications.

The telecoms operator launched its SureDial Home & SureDial Business on Saturday 16th August. SureDial allows customers to make outgoing fixed line calls by routing them through the Cable and Wireless network.

The SureDial service utilises the existing Cable and Wireless network in the Isle of Man, allowing more money to be invested into delivering a first-class product.

SureDial works through a small box knows as a ‘dialler’. The phone cable is plugged into the dialler, which is then plugged into the phone socket in the wall of a home or office. The number ‘13545’ is pre-programmed into the dialler, which carries the call over the existing Manx Telecom local network and onto the Cable and Wireless Interconnect Gateway. This sends the call through from Cable and Wireless to the end user. There is no need for users to change their phone number and there is no installation cost or line rental charge.

Calls to UK and international numbers will be eligible for the discounts being offered by Sure. Calls to Manx Telecom fixed lines and mobiles will not be routed through the Cable and Wireless network.

The Island is also served by four state of the art data hosting centers owned and operated by Manx Telecom, Domicilium, Continent 8 and Netcetera and collectively representing in excess of £30 million investment.

Connectivity off the Island is provided by two resilient fibre optic rings, owned respectively by BT and Cable & Wireless, which connect the Island with the North of England and Northern Ireland. These links employ `self-healing SDH loop` technology which guarantees that if a fault occurs at any part of the link, voice and data traffic is seamlessly re-routed in the other direction. Their total available capacity is 3 million channels (240 Gigabytes) which, with a current capacity utilisation of less than 0.2% on the main cable alone, represents huge potential for the future. In addition, the Manx Government owns a third undersea cable connecting the Island with the North of England and offers further capacity to support Island businesses.

The Isle of Man was one of the first countries to pass dedicated e business legislation with the introduction of the Electronic Transactions Act in November 2000. Additional business continuity regulations introduced in 2002 enable banks, investment businesses and corporate service providers which are regulated in approved jurisdictions to use Isle of Man based computer servers in the event of catastrophic failure.

The Island’s strong position in financial services and e business make it the perfect location for companies in the business of electronic trading platform development.

The Island also has a sophisticated internet hosting infrastructure. There is a choice of service providers whose range of services include hosting, managed services, internet security services, connectivity and consultancy. Web hosting business solutions are offered to businesses of all sizes.

The Isle of Man telecommunications and IT infrastructure may be summarised as follows:

• Resilient high capacity fibre optic cables connecting the Island to the North of England and Northern Ireland
• State of the art business continuity/disaster recovery facilities widely available
• Part of the UK numbering range
• Direct dialling to 99% of numbers globally
• High internet and ADSL penetration
• Island wide mobile data (GPRS)
• Quality of service to world standards
• High quality web hosting/co-location
• 100% broadband availability
• Short lead times for telephone and broadband installation
• Higher speed connectivity for business available via extensive Island wide fibre and radio networks