Supporting the e-island

We always aim to reduce prices where possible and pass on cost savings to our customer. We do not benefit from the economies of scale of larger marketplaces, but we still need to make the investment to provide the latest products and services to our customers.

Last year, we committed to a three-year, £30 million capital investment programme. One of the results of this was a new billing system, installed in November 2004, which has enabled us to offer more inventive pricing packages. We have recently launched two new packages, one for residential customers offering free local calls at evenings and weekends, and one for mobile customers which gives them '100 local Free Minutes' per month.

"I have worked closely with Manx Telecom for the past four years and have always been impressed by the way in which they link the fortunes of the Isle of Man to their own success. Because of this, we have developed an excellent working relationship to maximise the inward investment potential based on a world class telecoms infrastrucure."

Tim Craine, Isle of Man Government Business Director

It has always been our policy to support the Government's 'e-Island' strategy and, as part of this, we have continued to invest to provide ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) broadband services over fixed telephone lines to as many of our customers as possible. Last year we increased coverage in some remote areas still further by fitting connectors called mini-DSLAMs to street cabinets where we knew demand for broadband was high. As a result, access to broadband is now available to around 99 per cent of homes and businesses on the Isle of Man, and take up is currently around 19 per cent. We plan to install up to a further seven mini-DSLAMs in the next year.

The Government has continued to encourage people on the island to take up broadband services, by subsidising the initial connection charges.