Jersey Introduction
Jersey's
economic policy encourages information
technology operations, in line with the
current strategy of business growth without
population growth. Jersey has gone a long
way towards putting the infrastructure
in place for offshore e-commerce, investing
millions of pounds a year in telecommunications
to exploit its position as a low-tax centre
for e-commerce. There are already a number
of Internet Service Providers in Jersey,
and clear interest is being shown in offshore
e-commerce development.
Government
policy towards e-commerce has however
been hampered by the lack of a clear structure
within which development could take place.
The Jersey Information Society Commission,
which was the focus of development work
in 2000 and 2001, ceased to exist in early
2002. Work on e-commerce development then
passed to the States' Industry and Commerce
Committee before becoming the responsibility
of the newly-created Technology, Media
& Telecommunications Policy Unit,
also known as the TMT Policy Unit in January
2003. The main aim of the unit is to develop
comprehensive strategies for the development
of the Island’s technology, media
and telecommunications industries.
After
what was described as a "very successful"
strategy meeting in May 2004, the TMT
Group committed itself to bringing forward
a series of recommendations designed to
more fully develop the opportunities offered
by e-commerce. According to the TMT Group,
the States' decision to adopt the Strategic
Plan 2005-2010 was intended to provide
a framework upon which policy can be developed
in a cohesive manner, and this led to
departments drafting new business plans
outlining how each aims to deliver the
tasks they have been allocated. The business
plan for Economic Development included
the development of an e-commerce strategy
as one strand of its core objective of
stimulating 2% per annum real growth in
the local economy.
See
below for specific information on e-commerce
in Jersey, or go to Offshore-e-com.com
for an extensive analysis of the commercial
possibilities and the legal background.
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Jersey
Facilities
Telecommunications
Providers
In
early 2001, the Government's then main
advisory body on e-commerce, The Jersey
Information Society Commission, produced
a report recommending major changes to
the island's telecommunications regime.
The
JISC said it had come to two main conclusions
- that "Jersey Telecoms is perceived
to have served the domestic sector in
the Island well' and 'the business sector
believes that tariffs outside the island
are unacceptably high and that the advanced
services offered, in particular for e-commerce,
do not reflect international standards
of excellence or the needs of an information
based economy."
The
JISC made two principal recommendations:
that the States of Jersey should confirm
that a competitive telecommunications
environment is the driving force for development
and an independent regulator of acknowledged
standing with a clearly defined role should
be established.
Following
the incorporation of Jersey Telecom Group
Limited and the establishment of the independent
regulation of the industry by the Jersey
Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA)
in January 2003, the States of Jersey
announced in 2006 that it was in a position
to consider the sale of Jersey Telecom.
In July of that year, Jersey's Treasury
and Resources Department launched a consultation
on the proposed sale of the company, which
is one of only a few telecommunications
operators in the world that remain fully
state owned. This consultation concluded
in September 2006. In October 2007 Jersey's
then Minister of Treasury and Resources,
Senator Terry Le Sueur lodged a Report
and Proposition asking the States to agree
that their shareholding in Jersey Telecoms
(JT) should be sold, and requesting the
identification of a suitable buyer.
The
cost of long-distance calls and internet
connectivity was until recently considerably
higher than in mainland UK, although Jersey
telecom has cut prices substantially since
2001. In some instances, rates for local,
national and international calls were
slashed by over 60%, while mobile call
tariffs were also cut.
The
cost of broadband internet services, expensive
by mainland UK standards, has also begun
to fall in Jersey. In November 2005, Jersey
Telecom announced that it was cutting
the price of its broadband services by
up to 53% benefiting both home and business
users. Residential customers in Jersey
opting for the 512Kbit/s service saw prices
cut from GBP24.99 to GBP17.99 per month.
Jersey Telecom’s 1Mbit/s and 2Mbit/s
services were cut from GBP44.99 to GBP24.99
per month (down 44%) and GBP84.99 to GBP39.99
(down 53%), respectively. In 2009, residential
broadband prices were about the same as
the EU average.
Jersey
Telecom has also rolled out a network
of Wi-Fi hot spots (or wireless Internet
access points) in key locations around
the Island, establishing nine in December
2004. The Wi-Fi hot spots enable businessmen
and personal users visiting public areas
such as Jersey Airport, the Elizabeth
Terminal and various hotels not only to
access the Internet, but also to check
their email and get information from their
corporate networks.
Jersey
Telecom has also joined forces with Manx
Telecom and Wave Telecom to provide telecommunications
solutions for their customers with a presence
in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
This
coordination will ensure customers of
all three companies are provided with
a consistent approach to their telecommunication
requirements and will only need to liaise
with a single point of contact for projects
spanning all three Islands.
Manx
Telecom Managing Director Chris Hall explained:
“As small island telecommunications
providers we have common interests and
face similar issues with our markets and
this has led to a close working relationship.
This announcement takes that relationship
one stage further, to the benefit of our
customers who have a business presence
in more than one of the three jurisdictions.
Our association will effectively allow
us to offer them 'joined-up telecommunications'
across all three markets.”
Bob
Lawrence, Managing Director Jersey Telecom
Group, also welcomed the benefits of the
agreement and in making the announcement
he commented: “It will allow Jersey
Telecom to operate more effectively across
all three markets which in turn will bring
many advantages to our customers. We will
continue to build on our relationship
to provide further solutions and product
development initiatives for our customers.”
On
June 1, 2006, Jersey Telecom launched
the Island’s first 3G mobile service,
part of a GBP12 million investment programme
to upgrade its ‘core’ mobile
network, bringing customers the very latest
in mobile voice and data services.
3G
mobile technology is essentially ‘broadband’
for mobile devices and allows users to
transfer data at speeds that rival a fixed
line broadband connection. This means
that customers can access a whole new
set of services while on the move, including
person-to-person video calling and high
speed mobile internet access.
The
new 3G network was to be delivered in
phases, with the service initially available
to pay monthly or ‘contract’
subscribers first. A version for ‘pay-as-you-go’
mobile users was to be delivered soon
after. The first sites to be commissioned
were in St Helier and from there, the
service was due to be rolled out across
the Island throughout the rest of the
year.
There
are three mobile networks in Jersey: Airtel-Vodafone
(Jersey Airtel); JT-Wave (Jersey Telecom);
and Sure (Cable & Wireless). During
2009 a new entrant entered the mobile
market as a virtual operator. Jersey Post
Limited launched its Me:Mo product which
uses the network facilities of Airtel-
Vodafone.
In
June 2008, Tim Ringsdore, Sales and Marketing
Director of Jersey Telecom, said that
broadband was available to over 95% of
homes with around 90% of lines capable
of supporting the maximum speed of 2MB.
"This
has helped make broadband a real success
story in Jersey with over 75% of homes
enjoying broadband access compared to
around 60% in the UK," he said.
“We
are committed to investing in the broadband
market and new technology is being installed
now that will provide speeds of up to
8MB for local users by the end of the
year. We are also evaluating fibre broadband,
which has the potential to offer speeds
of up to 100MB. That’s enough bandwidth
to allow a host of new services, such
as high-definition TV (HDTV) and super
fast web browsing and downloads,"
he added.
During
2009 Jersey Telecom (JT) the sole provider
of both wholesale and retail broadband
services introduced new 4Mb/s and 8Mb/s
services. In addition to JT and the wholesale
reseller Newtel, Cable & Wireless
Jersey (branded Sure) also entered the
retail fixed line broadband market taking
JT wholesale services. By December 2010,
JT announced that it had equipped a new
residential development on Castle Quay,
St. Helier, with the fastest broadband
speed in the western world. Residents
are able to access 1Gb speeds via fibre-optic
cabling on a trial basis. The cabling
was installed under the Gigabit Isles
initiative as part of JT group's five
year initiative.
The
number of fixed line ISP and Internet
access accounts among all operators licensed
in Jersey grew by just over 2% overall.
This was lower than in 2008 and much lower
than in previous years and further hints
at the levelling off of demand or saturation
of the available market first noted in
2008.
All
three mobile operators, Jersey Telecom,
Airtel-Vodafone and Sure, offer USB “dongles”
for access to 3G HSDPA broadband at rates
up to 1.8Mb/s.
The
Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority
estimates 31,223 registered fixed line
ISP accounts (including dialup) at the
end of 2009, an increase of 861 on 2008.
This would represent a penetration by
household of about 82% which is above
the UK at 70%. The Authority co-sponsored
implementation of Mobile Number Portability
in the Channel Islands at the end of 2008
to offer choice and convenience to consumers.
In its' annual report for 2009, the Authority
reported that over 6,000 mobile phone
users had switched networks, keeping their
'old' numbers, representing over 5% of
the total mobile phone users in Jersey,
exceeding the EU porting average of 4%.
Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services
are also available from Jersey, either
through local or off-island suppliers
(e.g. Skype).
ISP
and Hosting Services
Apart
from Jersey Telecom, leading service providers
in Jersey include Foreshore Ltd, Itex
(Jersey) Ltd, ITSoffshore, OTL International
Advertising, Twenty-First
Century Box and XKO Communication Systems
(Jersey) Ltd.
Foreshore says that its Internet backbone
is totally independent of any single telecoms
operator or internet service provider
and has been designed specifically to
meet the exacting needs of offshore e-commerce
companies. The company's Jersey Internet
Business Exchange is an offshore market-place
allowing suppliers and customers to transact
business within an ultra-secure environment,
unrestricted by any bandwidth or latency
limitations, with access to a
wide range of specialist service providers
to offshore businesses, including payment
solutions, real time accounting services,
digital or physical fulfillment and banking
amongst others.
Payment
Processing
Payment
processing services are provided by Payoffshore.com
Limited through an on-line transaction
processing gateway capable of processing
all major types of credit and debit card
payments. The Gateway is capable of receiving
transaction requests from any secure server
connected to the Internet on any platform.
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Jersey Legislation
Electronic
Communications (Jersey) Law 2000
This
Law entered into force on the 1st January
2001 and was promoted by the Jersey Information
Society Commission. It provides a suitable
environment for the conduct of e-business.
The Law covers the following:
- Legal
certainty in respect of certain aspects
of electronic transactions; Default
rules governing electronic contracts
have been included as a fall back
and can be varied by the parties.
These default rules specify, for example,
the time of dispatch of an electronic
communication. In the absence of a
clear agreement between contracting
parties, these rules are important
in deciding when and where an electronic
contract was concluded. Electronic
contracts are given legal recognition;
- The
admissibility into evidence of information
in electronic form (including electronic
transactions, electronic records and
electronic signatures authenticating
such communications or records);
- The
removal of obstacles in other legislation
to the use of electronic communications
and storage in place of paper;
- Flexibility
in application and approach provided
by Regulations made by the States,
Orders made by the Industries Committee
and by Rules of Court.
Protection is provided for ISPs in the
form of defences to civil and criminal
actions.
New
Telecommunications Law
Jersey's
telecoms market is being opened up to
competition. The government is implementing
the recommendations of the JISC (see above)
with progressive liberalisation of the
telecommunications market through a number
of mechanisms, including the introduction
of competitive carriers, the establishment
of an independent regulator and the adoption
of the UK regulatory and licencing model.
All of these initiatives are reflected
in a Telecommunications Law, which has
been approved by the States of Jersey.
The Telecommunications (Jersey) Law 2002
was registered on January 4, 2002.
A
central purpose of the Law was to abolish
the formerly exclusive privilege of the
States of Jersey in the telecommunications
sector, and to introduce competition in
both fixed and mobile telephony. The Law
requires providers to hold a licence issued
by the JCRA to operate a telecommunications
service in Jersey, and currently the JCRA
issues three classes of licences, depending
on the operator’s market power.
Alternatively, a General Class Licence
may apply.
Gambling
(Remote Gambling Disaster Recovery) (Jersey)
Regulations 2008
The
Gambling (Remote Gambling Disaster Recovery)
(Jersey) Regulations 2008 were the first
step in the legislative programme of modernisation
of Jersey's gambling laws, and represented
the first 'new' gambling regulations to
be passed by the States Assembly (the
Island's parliament) in 42 years.
The
new regulations came
into force on January 22, 2008, and allow
companies who are licensed to operate
remote gambling services in other jurisdictions
to place their disaster recovery, or backup
systems, in Jersey and, in the event of
disaster, operate temporarily from Jersey.
Intellectual
Property
In
December 2007, Jersey's then Minister
for Economic Development, Senator Philip
Ozouf, launched a public consultation
on the modernisation and expansion of
Jersey’s intellectual property laws.
The consultation process followed a meeting
hosted by the Minister with leading organisations
in the fields of e-commerce and intellectual
property. The meeting was held to explore
the opportunities arising from the development
of improved intellectual property and
e-commerce legislation, and to establish
whether such development would help to
drive economic activity.
New
draft legislation unveiled at the time
is designed to bring Jersey into line
with the law in other jurisdictions, and
means the Island will be able to sign
up to international conventions on copyright
and related rights.
The
Draft laws put out to consultation included:
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