Jersey Telecom
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Jersey Telecom is the default operator in the Bailiwick of Jersey. It serves the area codes of 44 1534 for landlines and 44 7797 for mobiles. It is not connected to Jersey Post, the island's postal service.
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History
The first telephone exchange was opened in Jersey in 1895 by the National Telephone Company very close to the present day main exchange building in St Helier. The Jersey exchange network was taken over in 1912 by the British Post Office and was then bought by the States of Jersey in 1923 and named the States Telephone Committee.
In 1940, during the German occupation of the Channel Islands, all communication with the outside world was stopped. The German army took over many of the lines and cables in the network but the civilian exchanges were allowed to continue in operation.
Jersey's first automatic Strowger exchange was finally in operation in 1960 with a capacity for 9,000 lines. Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) was introduced in Jersey in 1966 which meant that most UK calls could now be dialled direct instead of having to go through an operator. Automatic exchanges were also commissioned at the East and North of the Island in 1975 but of the Crossbar type. This new equipment allowed tone dialling and led to the introduction of telephones with keypads instead of a dial. Two further electronic exchanges were introduced in 1975 and 1976 due to a shortage of lines.
1976 also saw the introduction of International Subscriber Dialling (ISD) enabling local subscribers to dial direct to over 250 million telephones in 26 countries. However, ISD was not available from coin boxes until 1981.
The 80s were growth years for the company despite the recession which hit the United Kingdom. Many new services were introduced during this time, the most significant of which was the introduction of System X Digital Exchanges island-wide. This computer controlled system had been developed for British Telecom and had the obvious advantage of allowing Jersey to be completely compatible with the UK network. 1983 saw the 60,000th telephone connected in Jersey which showed a 20,000 increase in just 7 years.
During the same period extensive developments were made to the communication links out of the Island. Microwave links were put in place between Jersey and both the UK and France to ensure service in the unlikely event of a breakdown of the main cable communication links. 1989 saw the introduction of the first fibre optic cable between Guernsey and England with the second fibre optic cable running from Jersey to the UK put in place in 1994. This cable is currently the longest unrepeated optical fibre sea cable in the world. Both cables can carry more than 32,000 simultaneous calls.
In 1984 the Telecoms Board relaxed its monopoly and began to allow some privately purchased equipment to be connected to the network subject to type approval to ensure that the service was not put at any risk.
Mobile Networks
In 1979 Jersey's first Radio Paging network was introduced with 600 pagers issued in the first year of operation Jersey Telecom's first analogue mobile service was introduced in 1987 in collaboration with Cellnet (now O2) and ran until June 1999. The network supported over 3,000 local customers by the time Jersey Telecom introduced its own GSM digital network at the end of 1994. GPRS was made available under the brand name Pepper during 2003 and MMS messaging in 2004.
Competition
On 1st December 2002, Jersey Telecom announced the launch of Wave Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary operating as the new telecoms provider in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The competition in Jersey is very small: Newtel Communications provides cable and broadband services.
The PrimeTalk row
In September 2004, Jersey Telecom announced it was scrapping the discount line rate PrimeTalk which allowed the over 65s line rental for only £1.42 per month and the maximum rate for local calls at £0.05. This caused an outrage by both the OAP groups and the States who owns the company.
Internet
Jersey people are able to obtain Internet services from Jersey Telecom, LocalDial and other local providers. Some UK providers such as AOL are not available because the discounted call rate schemes they utilise often do not include overseas operators such as Jersey.
Jersey Telecom offer broadband ADSL services branded Rapid at 512 kbit/s, 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s service in home and business configurations. There are also leased line offerings starting at 64 kbit/s and an on-demand ISDN plan.
Miscellaneous
The company is generally referred to as Telecoms in Jersey, the name by which the former States Telecommunications Board was long known.
Links
- Jersey Telecom (http://www.jerseytelecom.co.uk) (JavaScript required)
- Wave Telecom (http://www.wavetelecom.co.uk) (Jersey Telecom's Guernsey subsidiary)
- JerseyInsight (http://www.jerseyinsight.co.uk) (Jersey Telecom's web portal)