MEA to 'light up' cable

After years in which the remaining strands of the undersea fibre optic cable, laid alongside the electricity cable from Bispham, Blackpool has twiddled its fibre thumbs, the Manx Government is to act to use the asset. Business Editor John Moss reports:

Outgoing Chairman of the MEA Eddie Teare (pictured) was able to tell Tynwald that the cable is, or will be, 'all lit up.'

This will be done through the offices of 'e-llan Communications', a play on Ellan Vannin, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the MEA.

During his time as Chief Executive Officer Mike Proffitt was keen to make use of the fibre optic cable. He wanted to use the MEA's electricity network as part of a communications network, but with his retirement in 2005, and subsequent revelations, any plans to light the strands went onto the back burner.

Making today's announcement Eddie Teare said: 'This is a major milestone for the MEA. Following two years of extremely hard work by the team the benefits of the asset can now be realised. The subsidiary e-llan Communications will offer a "wholesale" data transmission service, that is a service to telecoms customers requiring large bandwidth to and from the United Kingdom. This will support local telecoms businesses in offering attractive prices relative to their competitors in other jurisdictions, which is expected to help attract investment and thus support economic growth.'

Apparently the Council of Ministers considered a range of options, including having a private company operate the cable. Ultimately though, the Council decided to keep it in-house, being happy the MEA had the necessary technical expertise to provide this wholesale telecoms service in a manner which would give the important sector 'freedom to flourish.'

The Department of Trade and Industry will be holding a press conference tomorrow.