Manx Telecom begins trial of superfast broadband in the Isle of Man

The business world is as competitive as it has ever been. More and more people are turning to their mobile devices to stay in the know with the latest market news and industry updates, while reading and firing off emails on the go. Aside from commercial applications, users are also using their mobile devices increasingly for entertainment purposes, such as for streaming videos and music and other media.

In fact, mobile devices have become so popular that networks are having trouble with meeting the ever-increasing data demands. A report by Ericsson revealed that mobile data demand has doubled over the past twelve months, citing various factors that might effect the data usage of a certain device: “Factors including screen size, age and price of the smartphone have a stronger correlation with median traffic than OS (iPhone-iOS, Android, Symbian, etc). It is notable that in North America, high-end smartphones generate twice the traffic than comparable smartphones at the operators analyzed in Asia and Europe.”

The planned 4G spectrum auction would be able to alleviate such demands by providing networks and operators with more bands to transmit data on. However, Ofcom has moved to postpone the auction, stating that they believed more consultations needed to be done before a decision can be reached. The regulator received criticism from various industry leaders for the postponement. But on a positive note, various operators are moving to push for finding means to introduce the technology to selected areas in the UK. BT Broadband and Everything Everywhere actually teamed up to launch a 4G mobile trial in Cornwall until early next year. AT&T has also expressed their intentions to expand the mobile broadband network in Putnam County as well.

Now Manx Telecom is also looking to begin a trial of a superfast mobile broadband service in the Isle of Man. The technology that the operator will be introducing will enable users to surf the Internet, access their email, stream videos, music, and other media, download data, and do so many other things on the Web on their mobile devices at fast speeds.

Manx Telecom’s CEO, Mike Dee, expressed that the potential for 4G technology was huge in the island.

Manx Telecom is working hand in hand with Alcatel-Lucent. The latter has recently trialed the same service in Jersey, and plans to setup two net networks next week in Douglas.

The CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, Lucy Dimes, stated: “We’re really looking forward to showing just what 4G can do in the Isle of Man trial.”

Source – BBC