Superfast service slowdown

Last week contractors working on the project threatened to down tools for reasons which are anything but clear. It also seems that the three-year programme of connections is behind schedule.

However, JT chief executive Graeme Miller says that he is comfortable with the project’s progress and that there is enough flexibility in the plan to cope with any temporary checks on its progress.

If more information were available, it might be possible to assess just how much – or how little – trouble Gigabit Jersey faces. Unfortunately, although Mr Miller has expressed his confidence through a public statement, echoed by the contractor, all those with knowledge of the situation – including Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf – are remaining tight-lipped about what is really going on.

This is unsatisfactory for at least three reasons. To begin with, although JT operates as a commercial entity here and internationally, the public still have a stake in the group as a whole. Secondly, a great deal of public money has been poured into the Gigabit project. Thirdly, the Council of Ministers have invested very considerable hope in the idea that super-fast broadband services will play a major role in boosting the Island economy.

Quite rightly, Deputy Roy Le Hérissier, who has questioned Senator Ozouf in the States this week, is eager for blandishments and assertions about commercial sensitivity to be replaced by some solid fact. He insists that given the vast sums of taxpayers’ money that are involved, accountability is a must. This is a view that deserves to be widely welcomed.

Meanwhile, although the present issues are the extent to which Gigabit Jersey is faltering and the lack of information on which to base a judgment on the matter, there are also nagging doubts about whether the scheme will amount to an essential fillip for the economy. Super-fast connections will without doubt benefit many businesses, but the number of households which will consider 1Gb or 100Mb broadband an essential rather than a luxury was always a subject for debate.

In the light of the limited uptake to date, it is clear that the issue has not yet been resolved.