Hosting
and ISP Facilities
E-commerce
Facilities
Banking and Payment Processing
Facilities
Hosting and ISP Facilities
In
1996 the Isle of Man Government obtained permission
to use the .im National Top Level Domain (TLD)
and has ultimate responsibility for its use.
The domain is managed on a daily basis by Advanced
Systems Consultants, an Island-based Internet
Service Provider. A naming committee consisting
of representatives from the Manx Government
and local industry considers all domain applications.
There
are in fact at least five Internet Service Providers
on the Isle of Man, all of whom also offer hosting
facilities. The island has quite good connectivity
- the Isle of Man is served by both Microwave
Radio and Fibre Optic Submarine Cable links
to the UK. The cable has five fibre optic pairs
capable of carrying some 23,000 simultaneous
telephone calls. A Satellite Earth Station also
offers digital or analogue links to international
destinations including Europe and the USA.
Telecommunications
service provided by Manx Telecom, a subsidiary
of BT. This monopoly situation has not so far
been a major problem for e-commerce development
on Man, due to the very advanced facilities
BT has to offer; but long term, it could become
a concern, especially since Manx Telecom offers
its own ISP and hosting services, and could
apparently use pricing constraints to limit
local competition. The Manx Government has addressed
this issue through the installation of an additional
fibre-optic cable link to the mainland, operated
jointly by the Manx Electricity Authority and
the UK's National Grid.
In
order to enable 100% broadband coverage, Manx
Telecom announced in June 2003 that it was planning
to upgrade the six remaining telephone exchanges
with ADSL-enabling equipment, in an effort to
make the island one of the most attractive high
speed internet locations in Europe. Manx telecom
had, at that point, already spent around £1
million upgrading the six exchanges at Douglas,
Ramsey Castledown, Peel, Port Erin and Marown,
before moving on to the remaining facilities
at Sulby, Andreas, Laxey, Kirk Michael, and
St Johns.
In
July 2001, Manx Telecom announced a new range
of Internet hosting products aimed at sole traders
and small to medium-sized businesses. The range
is designed to offer everything necessary to
take businesses of this size from an 'entry
level' presence on the Internet right up to
an e-commerce situation.
Legislation
passed in the Isle of Man in October 2003 was
designed to allow the Manx Electricity Authority
to use its undersea fibre-optic cable network
to provide telecommunications services and significantly
increase the island’s broadband capabilities.
In
January 2004, meanwhile, the Isle of Man Treasury
and the Department of Trade and Industry unveiled
a joint broadband development strategy which
the government hoped would give the jurisdiction
a competitive edge over its rivals and attract
new business to the island.
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E-commerce Facilities
There are a number
of firms on the Isle of Man which offer e-commerce
packages or e-business support, and several
of these are consortia. In one case, for instance,
there is a joint venture between a management
consultancy, an Internet facilities house, a
law firm and Manx Telecom. This approach ensures
that all necessary skills are brought to bear
on the setting-up of an offshore e-commerce
operation.
Several firms offer
comprehensive support to retail e-commerce operations,
typically including the following components:
- domain name,
hosting and site statistics;
- secure space
for customer ordering form;
- home, company
information and other pages as required;
- product catalogue,
shopping basket and ordering facility;
- catalogue design
and construction including photography;
- keyword-based
search engine positioning;
- payment-processing
solutions from an external service;
- continuing site
updating service.
To learn about
direct, practical assistance with setting up
an offshore e-commerce operation on the Isle
of Man, please see our E-commerce Business Guide.
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Banking
and Payment Processing Facilities
There are currently
(2006) some 54 banks established on the Isle
of Man; although the number of banks on the
island has fallen slightly over the last 5 years,
the calibre and scale of banking operations
has been showing marked improvement.
A
number of banks offer Internet banking services
from the Isle of Man, and it would be simple
for an offshore e-commerce operation to source
a full range of appropriate banking services
on the island.
The
Government has launched a fast-track approval
process to grant global e-commerce banking licences,
and at least one such license has been issued.
So far, no local payment-processing scheme has
been announced, but several international banks
with branches on the island offer global payment-processing
solutions.
In
November 2000 WISekey, a worldwide leader in
certification authority and public key infrastructure,
announced that it had created WISeOffshore,
an internet initiative to provide specialized
services and applications for offshore jurisdictions
and their financial institutions. But in the
spring of 2001 the Manx-based service was put
on hold, much to the disappointment of the Island's
e-commerce sector.
WISekey's
president, Carlos Moreira, said at the time
that the project would be 'operational in different
stages' and that plans for the project were
still underway.
In
June, 2004, NETeller plc announced its move
to the Isle of Man. The company said the move
was undertaken for many reasons, including the
island's robust telecommunications infrastructure
and the commitment that the Isle of Man government
is making towards eCommerce. Further to this
was the Island’s financial and economic
environment as well as its unique relationship
with the UK (and Europe).
Neteller
developed an online payment solution that acts
as an electronic wallet for consumers to purchase
goods and services over the internet, while
providing full service payment processing, fraud
control and customer audit services over the
internet for merchants.
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