The UK government should look carefully at new Isle of Man broadband network

Experts believe that the efforts currently underway by the Isle of Man to implement a next generation broadband network infrastructure throughout the island are something that the British government should learn from.

A new super fast broadband network that will offer a minimum of 5.6Mbps for its fixed broadband services and 3.6Mbps for its mobile service will be deployed throughout the island by Manx Telecom, the telecommunications firm by as summer draws to a close.

The latest move by the small island to provide its inhabitants with a highly improved broadband network raises serious questions relating to the promises of 2Mbs connection by 2012 made by government as parts of the recently released Digital Britain report.

An industry broadband expert has advised that the provision of a broadband network that was suitable for the constantly increasing needs of users was very important especially when government and business worked together and this Isle of Man project was something that the UK government should follow.

The director of eBusiness in the Treasury department in the Isle of Man government, Tim Cranes said during a recent interview “The political endorsement is there to drive eBusiness. For the size of the island we have a disproportionate amount of investment.”

Following enhancements to its broadband service on the island, which now provides much faster download and upload speeds, Manx Telecom have said that exchange areas for Kirk Michael, Port Erin and Peel will now provide both home and business users with much faster internet connection speeds.

Although the Isle of Man is a much smaller area in terms of broadband rollout than the UK many industry insiders believe that a mixture of community led high-speed broadband projects and working more closely with the business sector would make a huge different to the rollout of much higher speed broadband network.