The latest study of the Channel Islands telecoms market has been published this week.
The report shows, overall revenues were up slightly, and the sector continues to make a valuable contribution to the Islands’ economies:
- Generated turnover, including fixed, mobile, Internet access, associated services and the sale of handsets of £177.4m (2020 £166.6m); £69.6m in Guernsey and £107.8m in Jersey
- Employed full time equivalent staff as at the end of 2021 of 754 (2020 794); 209 in Guernsey and 545 in Jersey
- Contributed £22m (2020 £20.5m) to the exchequers through corporate, staff, and social taxes (including GST payments in Jersey); £6m in Guernsey and £16m in Jersey
The Telecommunications Statistics and Market Report 2021 is compiled by Statistics Jersey on behalf of the Guernsey Competition & Regulatory Authority (GCRA) and the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA).
The report shows a comprehensive breakdown of the telecommunications market in both Bailiwicks, including detailed analysis of specific networks such as fixed line broadband, the mobile market, and an overview of off-Island links.
The data shows that broadband penetration rates (the number of subscriptions per 100 inhabitants) is higher across the Islands than the OECD average, though lagging slightly behind the UK. Competition is also working well in the markets as consumers continue to use the opportunity to switch provider in search of the best service or deals.
The report also records that the multiple submarine cables connecting the Islands to the UK and France continue to provide resilience, with different possibilities for the routing of voice, data and internet traffic.
The effects of the pandemic, which changed the way we used our telecoms services in 2020, have subsided and the trends prior to the pandemic are more prevalent:
- Both islands are now showing a decrease in fixed call network minutes, continuing the pre-pandemic trend of continuing decline year on year
- Continued strong increases in data usage per subscriber in 2021
- The total number of mobile call minutes has remained constant
- Customers mobile data usage has also continued to increase in both Islands
In a joint statement the GCRA and JCRA said, “Our telecoms sectors are well regulated, enjoy a healthy level of competition and are invested in technological innovation and infrastructure that has supported consumers and businesses through a difficult year as a result of the pandemic challenges”
“This independent report is valuable in giving a detailed picture of how the telecoms market is performing, not just for consumers locally but against similar services in the UK. We would like to thank Statistics Jersey and the telecom operators for their work in compiling this annual study.”
The full report is available here, on the Statistics Jersey web page and on both the GCRA and JCRA websites. For the first time the key time series data, collated in the report, has been uploaded to the opendata.gov.je portal. This industry level data will help improve how stakeholders and the wider public interact with the key information that is published.
The data used to compile this report has been provided by the Channel Islands’ licensed telecoms operators using an agreed set of data definitions.
The accuracy of the data is the sole responsibility of the operators. Statistics Jersey has not audited the data, although it has compared the 2021 submissions with the previous year and provided the operators with the opportunity to review their data and to make adjustments where they feel necessary. for both 2019 and 2020.
