Guernsey Set for £48m 5G Mobile Boost as Gov Suspends Competition Law

The States of Guernsey, which governs the English Channel Island of Guernsey (British Crown dependency), yesterday voted to do something extraordinary by temporarily suspending local competition law in order to allow the dominant telecoms and broadband operator, Sure, to acquire Airtel Vodafone. The reward is a £48m deal to deploy 5G services.

Normally it would be unthinkable for a government to suspend its competition laws in order to allow a specific merger to go through, but Guernsey is a small island in the English Channel, which doesn’t always have the same luxury of choice or flexibility as those in major countries. On the other hand, this is still a radical approach to take and time will tell whether it is the right one.

The expectation is that this will allow Sure to make a significant investment of up to £48m in a “world-class 5G mobile network” for the islands (the deal covers Jersey too). But the move will also require Sure to make several legally binding commitments to help protect local competition, which among other things includes a requirement to launch a new virtual (MVNO) mobile operator with the Channel Island Co-Op (Coop Mobile) – expected to be setup within 12-months.

Sure Group CEO, Alistair Beak, said:

“Today’s decision is great news for Sure and Airtel customers and the future of telecommunications services in Guernsey and Jersey. We are grateful that Deputies have recognised the numerous strategic, economic and social benefits of our acquisition of Airtel.

The approval granted today paves the way for a significant investment of up to £48m in a world-class 5G mobile network for the islands. We have made several legally binding commitments to ensure Sure and Airtel customers, as well as the wider community, benefit significantly – in the form of high-speed data services, improved coverage, and greater value for money; all while maintaining competition in the market through the commitment to launch the Channel Islands Coop as a new operator.

The investment in world-class digital infrastructure will support our increasingly digital lives, connecting our island communities to a better future and contributing to economic growth.

Having secured approval in Jersey earlier in the year we can now move forward and complete the transaction in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Sure and Airtel Vodafone will continue to operate as two separate companies.

I’d like to thank everyone on our team who has worked so hard on the acquisition so far.”

Sure has also agreed not withdraw any Sure and Airtel tariffs that are active as at the date of clearance of the merger. This is designed to protect today’s prices for consumers for the 36 months following completion of the transaction, after which time Coop Mobile should be fully established and competing with Sure and JT.

Sure is separately also working alongside the States of Guernsey on a joint £37.5m project (£12.5m of public investment) to build a new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network across the whole of Guernsey (30,000+ premises) by the end of 2026 (end of 2025 for build completion and 2026 for copper retirement), which in May 2024 revealed that it had covered 18,000 premises (inc. 10,000 customers) and that’s up from 9,000 a year earlier. Customers can order packages via Sure, JT and Airtel.