JERSEY has one of the fastest broadband speeds in the world, placing it above the United States, Japan and tech-specialist Estonia, according to a new international league table.
The Island has climbed four places to tenth position in a league table compiled by UK telecoms advisory service Cable, which ranks the broadband speeds of 200 countries worldwide.
However, local experts are saying that, following the completion of JT’s fibre network on Friday, Jersey may already have overtaken table leader Singapore, which was ranked first with a download speed of 60.39 megabits per second.
And, with new Chief Minister John Le Fondré yet to discuss digital policy with his team, the politician formerly responsible for digital has warned that it must be given the right support as a priority.
With every Jersey address now connected to the fibre network, the first of the government’s Future Jersey strategy goals has been achieved. Chris Knight, head of business development at Digital Jersey, welcomed the Cable rankings as a sign of the Island’s potential to develop its digital economy.
‘Jersey is already recognised as a world leader in internet download speeds, which provides strong foundations for the future of our Island’s economy,’ he said. ‘I would expect us to climb to the top end of the league table, especially now that every single broadband connection in Jersey benefits from access to a full-fibre gigabit speed network.’
M-Lab, the consortium responsible for collecting the data for the league table, includes New America’s Open Technology Institute, Google Open Source Research and Princeton University.
Written by Peter Harrison
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July 11, 2018