A new National Telecommunications Strategy for the Isle of Man will be presented to Tynwald this month.

The Department for Enterprise has based it on six key themes and 22 actions and is set to position the Island at the forefront of telecoms innovation.

The six themes include regulatory reform that will further foster competition and investment, securing two new subsea fibre routes to complement the existing five that are already in place.

Together with a national broadband plan, this will seek to support the rollout of fibre to premises Island wide within five years.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle says: "Access to global telecommunication networks are essential for our social and economic prosperity.

"Government has a key role to play as an enabler, developing policy and strategy which ensures that all our residents and businesses have access to a modern and secure telecommunications infrastructure.

"This strategy sets us on a path to deliver just that."

Major emphasis is put on government intervention to accelerate the rollout of fibre Island wide.

Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly says: "Our vision is to be seen at the forefront of telecoms innovation.

"The Programme for Government highlights our need to be a digital Island, ready for new technologies such as 5G.

"The delivery of high speed, high quality broadband is a problem being faced by nearly every developed and many developing countries around the world.

"These networks provide access to entertainment and media services, health services, educational tools and e-government applications and are a strong enabler for economic growth and social inclusion."

If approved by Tynwald the Department for Enterprise will begin an open market process to identify a preferred partner to deliver fibre to pass 99 per cent of premises in the Isle of Man.

This will allow businesses and households who want fibre services to gain access to ultrafast fibre broadband with speeds of up to 1Gbps.