THIS column is being written in the lobby of a hotel in the middle of the Irish countryside.

I’m not trying to make you jealous, I’m just showing how easy it is for many people to work anywhere when they have the technology and, most importantly, a decent broadband connection. Unfortunately, that is what I lack in Jersey.

If I was simply writing a story on my laptop which I then sent off using a broadband connection, I wouldn’t have any problems doing it at home in Trinity. But if I wanted to do anything on the internet in the Island that was a little more sophisticated and required a fast and resilient broadband service, then I would probably be throwing the computer through the window at this stage. Because as a regular user of broadband services, I think Jersey’s leave a lot to be desired.

Take one of my hobbies, for example. I like listening to music, and for my birthday my daughters bought me a subscription to the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall. This allows me to see all the orchestra’s concerts live as they happen, as well as view the archives of past concerts. The picture and sound quality are superb and it’s a good example of what advanced technology can achieve. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work in Trinity.

Because of the poor broadband service I get, I have not yet been able to view a complete concert at home. It will all start very promisingly and often I can watch without interruption as the musicians prepare themselves, the conductor raises his baton and the music begins. Then the picture freezes.

Then it starts again, but within a couple of minutes the picture will stutter and halt, and then perhaps start again, or perhaps stop for several seconds. You may be able to enjoy the music for several minutes and just when it’s getting to an interesting passage, it will simply freeze.

That’s annoying enough at any time, but for a music lover to have the music cut off at a crucial moment is close to torture.

I know that I can be a little short-tempered at times, particularly when it comes to new technology that doesn’t live up to its promise, but I defy anyone not to blow a gasket when this happens.

It is, of course, a more serious matter than just spoiling my entertainment. If I can’t get a decent broadband service in Trinity, how can the Island claim to be among the leaders of the digital age? Most importantly, as broadband is practically the backbone of a knowledge economy, how can Jersey compete globally when we appear to be lagging behind at least some of our competitors as far as crucial broadband services are concerned?

The finance industry is obviously well connected and the big banks and finance houses pay for and no doubt benefit from world -lass services provided by local suppliers. Perhaps domestic users can’t expect too much in a community of only 90,000 people, but if the Island is serious about developing skills, promoting entrepreneurship, fostering new businesses and embracing new working practices (such as remote working), then high-quality universal broadband services are essential.

It’s not just my experiences in trying to view a concert that indicates we’re not doing very well in this area. The latest study by the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority makes some interesting comparisons with other jurisdictions.

While some of the broadband services in France have download speeds of 28Mb/s, Jersey’s standard service is just 2Mb/s. Even consumers in the Isle of Man have an 8Mb/s service, which is only just being rolled out in Jersey.

But of course this isn’t the total picture, because these services definitely don’t do what it says on the tin. They might call it a 2Mb/s service in Jersey and that is what I pay for, but I get nothing like that speed in Trinity. This is all to do with technical details involving distance from the DSLAM and contention ratios, which I won’t bore you with, even if I fully understood. However, whether I understand the technology or not, I’m not getting what I pay for, and I’m not living in some remote location. So why isn’t broadband better?

The only answer I can come up with is that it’s a failure of competition policy. The Economic Development department have been very keen to push the notion that competition will provide choice, promote innovation and foster economic growth. That’s true, and there have been some notable successes, particularly at the JCRA, but it hasn’t brought us top-quality broadband.

So I wonder whether the priorities are right in the telecoms area. A great deal of fuss was made about mobile number portability, which nearly everyone in the telecoms sector heralded as the most significant development in the industry for many years.

Personally I don’t see it as being such a big deal. If there was a really significant benefit in moving to another operator, having to change your phone number wouldn’t stop most people.

Of course it was a hurdle that anyone wanting to move from the incumbent operator had to get over, but many of them would have done so if the competition had provided anything attractive enough.

So all MNP might have done is to add to overall costs (which the consumer will pay for eventually if not directly), while doing little to promote the development of new services.
Perhaps more effort could have been diverted to not only providing new services but also improving existing services and making them more user friendly.

Now it may not take someone with a PhD in astrophysics more than about three weeks to work out which mobile phone pay plan is best for them, but it totally stumps me.

All I know is that the operators tell me that charges are going down and their services are ever more affordable, while my bills keep on going up. But I suppose that’s the way of the world.

In fact, price may not even be the biggest issue. It’s more a question of availability, and as far as broadband is concerned, Jersey has a long way to go if it wants to be a winner.
Peter Body is editor of Business Brief magazine