Guernsey Fibre has hired two Community Liaison Officers to provide islanders with information and answer any questions about the island-wide fibre broadband roll out.
Their role will primarily be to educate and guide the public by sharing vital information about Guernsey Fibre. The officers will be the key contacts for residents and will explain the intricacies of the roll out in terms that can be understood by all. They will also be responsible for obtaining permissions to bring new duct and cabling across residents’ land and up to their properties in areas where buried copper cables are currently installed.
Guernsey Fibre is the island’s largest infrastructure project and it represents an investment of £37.5m, £25m of which is coming from Sure, and up to £12.5m will be provided by the States of Guernsey. The project will benefit all islanders, so the officers will play a vital role in explaining the technological terms and administrative details in a friendly, understandable way.
The officers will proactively engage with islanders as different areas are made fibre ready. They will do this through door-to-door visits, emails, letters and monitoring social media channels. The varied selection of channels ensures that the Officers engage with the community in the way that they prefer to be reached.
One of the two new Community Liaison Officers, Paul McKane, said: “It’s very exciting to be involved in such a large-scale project as Guernsey Fibre. Such a huge undertaking obviously comes with its fair share of details which can be intimidating to the average person. My role is to make this roll out as easy to understand as possible by using non-technical language that everyone can understand.”
Steve Holford, the other Community Liaison Officer said: “Being involved with Guernsey Fibre is a career highlight. I’m excited to get going and help deliver the roll out to the public, as fibre revolutionises Guernsey’s network capabilities.”