Gibtelecom

Gibtelecom is the biggest company that gives phone and internet services in Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a small place that belongs to the United Kingdom but is not part of the United Kingdom itself. It is called a British overseas territory.

The main office of Gibtelecom is in a square named after a person called John Mackintosh. This square is very important in Gibraltar.

History

The first telephones came to Gibraltar in 1886 from a private company. Later, the local government took over. By 1926, the City Council managed the telephone service. When the 1969 Constitution changed things, the service moved to the new Government of Gibraltar.

Until 1990, the government ran all telephone services. International calls were handled by Cable & Wireless, started in 1869 as the Falmouth, Malta, Gibraltar Telegraph Company. But in 1987, Cable & Wireless left Gibraltar. In 1988, British Telecom and the Gibraltar government created a joint venture called Gibraltar Telecommunications International Ltd, known as Gibtel. They started mobile service with a GSM900 network.

In 1990, the government joined with Nynex from the United States to create Gibraltar Nynex Communications Ltd (GNC) for fixed-line telephony. GNC began internet services in 1997 through GNC Networks, later renamed GibConnect. ADSL services started in 2002.

In 2001, British Telecom sold its share in Gibtel to GNC. The two companies merged to form Gibtelecom, a joint venture between the Gibraltar government and Verizon. The name Gibtelecom was used starting in July 2002 and officially adopted on 1 October 2003. In April 2007, Telekom Slovenije bought Verizon’s share for €36.7 million.

In 2009, the government thought about selling its part of Gibtelecom, but by August 2020, no sale happened. In 2015, the Gibraltar Savings Bank bought the remaining share, now owning all of Gibtelecom.

Board

Gibtelecom has a board of six directors. The Government of Gibraltar and Telekom Slovenije each choose three directors. The current chairman is Fabian Picardo, who is also the Chief Minister. In 2010, rules changed so that the same minister could not control both the government and the company, so some duties were given to the Minister of Housing.

Tim Bristow was the first leader of the company when it started in 2001. He left this role at the end of 2018. Before that, he worked for many years as the Financial Secretary of Gibraltar.

Services

GibTelecom offers several services using different networks. It uses the old copper wires to give internet speeds up to 100 Mbps. They also have a faster network that can reach up to 1 Gbps for homes, businesses, and public places.

They provide mobile phone and internet services through their 4G and 5G network. GibTelecom also offers services like web hosting and cloud storage. In 2018, they started offering pay TV services with many channels and options to watch shows later, and it can connect to antennas for more TV channels.

International connectivity

Telefónica from Spain, Cable & Wireless, and Interoute from the United Kingdom help connect Gibtelecom to the world. Gibtelecom also works together with partners in the Europe India Gateway cable system, which has a point where the cable comes ashore in Gibraltar.

Sponsorship

Gibtelecom helps support the Gibtelecom International Chess Festival every year in Gibraltar. This festival started in 2003. On December 13, 2016, Gibtelecom also began supporting the Rock Cup.