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The Guernsey Competition & Regulatory Authority (GCRA) has “provisionally approved” the release of new radio spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.6GHz bands in order to enable telecoms operators JT and Sure to roll-out 5G mobile (mobile broadband) services across the islands of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark from “early 2026“.
On 25th September 2025, following completion of the pre-application phase of the Spectrum Licensing Framework, JT (Guernsey) Limited submitted a formal application for the aforementioned spectrum. This was followed on the 3rd October 2025 by an identical application from Sure (Guernsey) Limited.
Just to be clear, JT has applied to take 2×15MHz of spectrum frequency in the 700MHz band (703–718 and 758–773 MHz) and 100MHz of frequency in the 3.6GHz band (3.51–3.61 GHz). By comparison, Sure sought 2x10MHz in the 700MHz band (778–788MHz and 723–733MHz) and 100MHz in the 3.6GHz band (3.61–3.71MHz).
According to the related regulator’s reports (here and here), JT intends to launch 5G across Guernsey, Alderney and Sark from early 2026, “building on its ongoing 5G rollout in Jersey and leveraging its partnership with leading telecommunications manufacturer Ericsson“. It intends to deploy 5G initially as non-standalone (NSA) for enhanced mobile broadband services, before migrating to standalone (SA) over time.
Sadly, Sure chose not to be as open about their planned 5G roll-out on the island, with the GCRA redacting all of the key details, investment commitments and dates from their document. However, Sure previously announced that they would invest £48m into building a new “world-class” 5G mobile network across both Guernsey and Jersey during 2026 as part of their move to acquire rival Airtel Vodafone (here), which required the suspension of local competition laws.
Ofcom currently manages spectrum on behalf of the GCRA under a delegated authority arrangement granted by the UK Government, and the GCRA regulates how spectrum is used commercially within Guernsey. But there are not expected to be any major obstacles to the GCRA’s provisional approval, which Ofcom is expected to grant.