A new superfast fixed line broadband service will be available from February next year, and thanks to Manx Telecom’s continued investment in fibre optic technology, the new service will be available to around 50% of homes and businesses at launch. The new VDSL Plus service will deliver the fastest fixed line broadband on the Island, with speeds of up to 80 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and up to 10Mbps upload. 

Mike Dee, Manx Telecom CEO, said:

“VDSL Plus represents another massive leap forward in broadband speeds and keeps the Isle of Man at the forefront of superfast broadband availability. The increasing popularity of households using multiple devices such as smartphones, tablets, games consoles, laptops and internet-enabled TVs means real demand for higher broadband speeds for home entertainment. The improved upload speeds of VDSL Plus also means greater efficiency for the ever increasing services and applications businesses use over their broadband connection. This is another major boost for the Island’s status as a great place to live and do business and a result of our long-term commitment to invest in new technologies like VDSL and fibre connectivity.”

In their ‘State of the Internet Report’ earlier this year, leading internet infrastructure supplier Akamai placed the Isle of Man 4th in their table of global broadband connectivity. In the same table, the UK was 16th and Ireland 39th.

Like all digital line services, the availability of VDSL Plus is dependent on the copper line length between the serving equipment and the service users’ premises. To achieve the new higher speeds, lines to the premises must be 1km or less. The high initial availability of VDSL Plus from launch is due to Manx Telecom’s early investment in fibre optic cabling to street cabinets and basements (FTTC & FTTB), bringing more homes and businesses within the 1km threshold.

100% of the Island’s telephone lines can already obtain ADSL2 Plus fixed line broadband, offering download speeds up to 16Mbps.

Manx Telecom launched the Island’s first VDSL service in 2011 which offers download speeds up to 40Mbps, and many thousands of service users have already opted to upgrade to this service. By the end of the year it’s planned that 87% of premises on the Island will be within the required threshold to receive VDSL, with new street cabinets planned for Douglas, Laxey, Port Erin and Ramsey over the coming months.

In February 2015, the new VDSL Plus option will be available to around 50% of all premises. Mr Dee added:

“We are developing a system to ensure people can quickly identify whether they are in range of the new VDSL Plus service and the typical speed range they can expect on their line. Working with the local Internet Service Providers we want to make moving up to VDSL Plus as simple and straightforward as possible. The good news for existing VDSL users is that they won’t have to change their existing router to upgrade to VDSL Plus. We know from feedback on our VDSL service, that users appreciate higher speeds, so we expect a high demand for the new faster VDSL Plus option.”