The new boss of Sure says he is excited about the potential for 5G technology after the telecoms business carried out tests in the island.

Alistair Beak said the business was ’still running a trial on 5G and we are still excited about the potential of that technology and the trial has shown that it can bring some amazing speeds.

’We’ve run a really in-depth trial with customers in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey as well.

’We have a lot of feedback now from the customer base using that trial’.

He believes it will still be ’some time off’ before it is eventually introduced but ’we are going through the process now with the Communications and Utilities Regulatory Authority, of applying for a licence for 5G and we are looking forward to commercialising and being able to launch 5G services once that licence process is complete’.

Mr Beak confirmed the group has used the controversial Chinese technology firm Huawei.

He said: ’We currently use Huawei and we are talking to the Isle of Man Government. We are talking to the National Cyber Security Centre, as to applying and looking at what the regulations that will come into effect in this area and we will be fully compliant with whatever those regulations are going to be.

’That is a conversation that is ongoing and I believe will go on for some time as well.’

Asked if he could confirm Huawei was involved in the trials he said: ’Yes.’

Business News pointed out that there has been international controversy surrounding the use of Huawei technology.

He said: ’As I said we are working with the UK National Cyber Security Centre, working with the Isle of Man Government to the extent that we will also work with the regulator, the Communications and Utilities Regulatory Authority, as well.

’And as and when there is a policy defined, we will absolutely enforce that policy.

’That is about as much as I want to say about that.’

In the House of Keys in February Enterprise minister Laurence Skelly said: ’The investment by Sure in this technology is in the region of £1 million, and Sure advise that they believe the trial has been successful.’

That meeting of the House of Keys also heard Sure launched its trial in November 2019 in Douglas covering Tromode, Woodbourne Road and the central business district.

review

In a wide-ranging interview with Business News Alistair Beak, aged 48, said the role of telecommunications has never been more important as people increasingly rely on digital services and he would be launching a review of the business after he takes over as group chief executive from the end of this month.

He replaces Ian Kelly, who is returning home to Australia after four years in the role.

He said: ’I’m very excited and I’m raring to go.

’I will be undertaking a review of our entire operation over the next few months and I will talk to customers, to regulators, talk to government, talk to businesses and our staff.

’It will be a thorough review of what we do and the approach we are taking.’

Mr Beak joined Sure in 2017 as chief marketing officer and became chief business officer and chief executive of the group’s South Atlantic and Diego Garcia operations in 2020. He will oversee Sure’s business across seven jurisdictions including the Isle of Man.

Mr Beak said he was proud of the way the telecommuications business had handled Covid in terms of the way they had continued to be able to provide services and really functioned very highly as a business.

Mike Phillips is the chief executive of Sure in the Isle of Man and is in charge of the company’s staff here.

Mr Beak said telecommunications ’has never been so important as more and more people live their lives in digital services’.

He added: ’The networks that underpin those services become ever more important.

’We have seen really quite an explosion in the use of digital services when it comes to remote working.

’Across our networks in the Isle of Man and Channel Islands we saw a rise of 40% to 50 % during the first lockdown last March, April and May. And we have seen a similar explosion in the use of digital services again this time around.’

invested

He said that because the business had invested tens of millions of pounds in their networks across the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands they had been able to handle the increase in use ’seamlessly’.

He added: ’It is really important that we plan ahead and keep investing and it is a really exciting space for us to be in with this business because of the importance of it to the community.

’Covid has really demonstrated how important telecommunications are to our everyday lives. Without it people would not be able to work from home.

’In a nutshell it makes the job even more exciting because of the importance of what we provide for the communities.’

Mr Beak stressed the Isle of Man was very important to Sure.

’We have been in the Isle of Man for over 10 years and we have grown significantly there. We have invested millions of pounds in building networks and we are continuing to invest and improve our services.

’We want to provide the best services to the Isle of Man community and that’s what we are here to do.

’We’re hugely committed to the island.’

Asked about the competition with rivals Manx Telecom he said: ’We have been growing our business very successfully in the Isle of Man and growing our market share in both the consumer and residential space as well as in the business customer space.

’One of the key things to bear in mind is that we have been growing the size of our business in terms of not just customers but in terms of employment and the amount of investment we have been putting in as well.

’For example we now have a reasonably large fibre network for business customers in the Isle of Man.

’And we are continuing to invest in that and to grow that as well.’

’Another example is the call centre we now have in the island, manned by local people.’

Mr Beak stressed the Isle of Man business is part of a much bigger international group and we use all of our resources to bring a number of different services to the island.