The
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
has an extensive communications infrastructure consisting of telephone cables, submarine cables, and an array of television and mobile phone transmitters and towers.
Telecommunications
Telegraph
The history of Manx telecommunications starts in 1859, when the Isle of Man Electric Telegraph Company was formed on the island with the intention of connecting across the island by
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
, and allowing messages to be sent onwards to the UK. In August 1859, a long cable was commissioned from Glass, Elliot and Company of Greenwich and laid from
Cranstal (north of
Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
) to
St Bees in Cumbria using the chartered cable ship ''Resolute''. The cable was single-core, with
gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus ''Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae. The name also refers to the rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, thermoplastic latex derived from the tree, particularly from ...
insulation.
Twenty miles of overhead cable were also erected from Cranstal south to Ramsey, and on to Douglas. In England, the telegraph was connected to
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
and the circuits of the
Electric Telegraph Company
The Electric Telegraph Company (ETC) was a British telegraph company founded in 1846 by William Fothergill Cooke and John Ricardo. It was the world's first public telegraph company. The equipment used was the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, ...
.
The telegraph offices were located at 64 Athol Street,
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
* Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...
(also the company's head office) and at East Quay, Ramsey (now Marina House).
On 10 August 1860 the company was statutorily incorporated by an
Act of Tynwald
An Act of Tynwald is a statute passed by Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man.
Structure
Acts of Tynwald are structured in a similar format to Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Commencement
Originally, each Act began with the f ...
with a capital of £5,500.
The currents at Cranstal proved too strong, and in 1864 the cable was taken up and relaid further south, at
Port-e-Vullen in Ramsey Bay. It was later relaid to land even further south at Port Cornaa.
Following the 1869 finalisation of UK telegraph nationalisation into a
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
monopoly, the Isle of Man Telegraph Company was nationalised in 1870 under the
Telegraph Act 1870
The Telegraph Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 88.) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It extended the Telegraph Act 1868 to cover the Channel Islands and ...
(an Act of Parliament) at a cost to the British Government of £16,106 (paid in 1872 following arbitration proceedings over the value). Prior to nationalisation, the island's telegraph operations had been performing poorly and the company's share price valued it at around £100.
Subsequent to nationalisation, operations were taken over by the GPO. The internal telegraph system was extended within a year to Castletown and Peel, however by then the previous lack of modern communications in Castletown had already started the Isle of Man Government on its move to Douglas.
Due to increasing usage in the years following nationalisation, further cables between Port Cornaa and St Bees were laid in 1875 and 1885.
By 1883 Smith's Directory listed several telegraph offices operated by the Post Office, in addition to those at Douglas, Ramsey, Castletown and Peel the telegraph was also available at Laxey, Ballaugh, and Port St. Mary.
Throughout the First World War, the cable landing station at Port Cornaa was guarded by the
Isle of Man Volunteer Corps.
The undersea telegraph cables have been disused since the 1950s, but remain in place.
Teleport
A Teleport, with several earth stations, is currently under construction on the Isle of Man. SES Satellite Leasing, the entrepreneurial investment arm o
SES The teleport is expected to enter into service in 2017. It will be a state-of-the-art facility providing satellite telemetry, tracking and commanding (TT&C) facilities and capacity management, together with a wide range of teleport services such as uplink, downlink, and contribution services for broadcasters and data centres.
Telephones
The main telephone provider on the Isle of Man today is
Manx Telecom
, logo =
, caption =
, type = Subsidiary
, location_city = Braddan
, location_country = Isle of Man
, area_served = Worldwide
, key_people = Gary Lamb Kevin Walsh
, industry = Tel ...
.
In 1889 George Gillmore, formerly an electrician for the GPO's Manx telegraph operations, was granted a licence by the Postmaster General to operate the Isle of Man's first
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
service. Based in an exchange in Athol Street, early customers of Gilbert's telephone service included the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms.
Isle may refer to:
Geography
* Is ...
and the
Isle of Man Railway
The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) ( gv, Raad Yiarn Vannin) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is narrow gauge and long. It is the remainder of what was a mu ...
. Not having the resources to fund expansion or a link to England, Gillmore sold his licence to the
National Telephone Company
The National Telephone Company (NTC) was a British telephone company from 1881 until 1911 which brought together smaller local companies in the early years of the telephone. Under the Telephone Transfer Act 1911 it was taken over by the General P ...
and stayed on as their manager on the island.
By 1901 there were 600 subscribers, and the telephone system had been extended to Ramsey, Castletown, Peel, Port Erin, Port St. Mary and Onchan.
On 1 January 1912 the National Telephone Company was nationalised and merged into the General Post Office by the
Telephone Transfer Act 1911
The Telephone Transfer Act 1911 was a United Kingdom statute, which nationalised the telephone companies. The National Telephone Company had become a monopoly and so the Liberal government decided to take it into public hands.
See also
* UK ent ...
. Only
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Hull remained outside of the GPO.
In 1922, the General Post Office offered to sell the island's telephone service to the Manx government, but the offer was not taken up. A similar arrangement in Jersey for that island's telephone service was concluded in 1923.
The first off-island telephone link was established in 1929, with the laying of a cable by the ''CS Faraday'' between
Port Erin
Port Erin ( gv, Purt Çhiarn, meaning ''lord's port'') is a seaside village in the south-west of the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of Rushen. It was previously a seaside resort before the decline of the tourist trade. Administratively it ...
and
Ballyhornan in Northern Ireland, a distance of 57 km, and then between
Port Grenaugh
Port Grenaugh is a cove in the SE of the Isle of Man at the foot of Glen Grenaugh, in the parish of Santon, and the mouth of Grace's stream which originates in the Newtown area of the parish by Ballakissack farm.
Close by is Cronk ny Merriu - ...
and
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
, primarily to provide a link to Northern Ireland. The cable was completed on 6 June 1929 and the first call between the Isle of Man and the outside world was made on 28 June 1929 by
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
Sir Claude Hill in Douglas to the
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
in Liverpool. The cable initially carried only two trunk circuits.
In 1942, a pioneering VHF frequency-modulated radio-link was established between
Creg-na-Baa
__NOTOC__
Creg-ny-Baa (, ; 'rock of the cow') is located between the 3rd Milestone and 4th Milestone of the primary A18 Snaefell Mountain Road and the road junction with the secondary B12 'Creg-ny-Baa Back-Road', in the parish of Kirk Onchan i ...
and the UK to provide an alternative to the sub-sea cable. This has since been discontinued.
This was augmented on 24 June 1943 by a long cable between
Cemaes Bay
Cemaes () is a village on the north coast of Anglesey in Wales, sited on Cemaes Bay, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is partly owned by the National Trust. It is the most northerly village in Wales (excluding the nearby hamlet of L ...
in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
and
Port Erin
Port Erin ( gv, Purt Çhiarn, meaning ''lord's port'') is a seaside village in the south-west of the Isle of Man, in the historic parish of Rushen. It was previously a seaside resort before the decline of the tourist trade. Administratively it ...
, which had the world's first submerged repeater, laid by ''HMCS Iris''. The repeater doubled the possible number of circuits on the cable, and although it failed after only five months, its replacement worked for seven years.
In 1962 a further undersea cable was laid by ''HMTS Ariel'' between
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
and the Island.
Historically, the telephone system on the Isle of Man had been run as a monopoly by the British
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
, and later
British Telecommunications
BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, bro ...
, and operated as part of the Liverpool telephone district.
By 1985 the privatised British Telecom had inherited the telephone operations of the GPO, including those on the Isle of Man. At this time the Manx Government announced that it would award a 20-year licence to operate the telephone system in a tender process. As part of this process, in 1986 British Telecom created a Manx-registered subsidiary company, Manx Telecom, to bid for the tender. It was believed that a local identity and management would be more politically acceptable in the tendering process as they competed with
Cable & Wireless to win the licence. Manx Telecom won the tender, and commenced operations under the new identity from 1 January 1987.
On 28 March 1988 an 8,000 telephone circuit
fibre optic cable, the longest unregenerated system in Europe, was inaugurated. In links Port Grenaugh to
Silecroft
The village of Silecroft in Cumbria, England, is in the parish of Whicham. It is situated between the towns of Millom and Bootle, Cumbria, Bootle, and also neighbours the towns/villages of Haverigg, Kirksanton and Whitbeck, Cumbria, Whitbeck.
T ...
in Cumbria, and was laid in September 1987. The cable was buried in the seabed along its entire length.
A further fibre optic cable, known as BT-MT1 was laid in October 1990 between
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furne ...
in Cumbria and
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
* Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...
, a distance of . Jointly operated by BT and Manx Telecom, it provides six channels each with a bandwidth of 140
Mbit/s
In telecommunications, data-transfer rate is the average number of bits (bitrate), characters or symbols (baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are multi ...
. This cable remains in use today.
In July 1992,
Mercury Communications
Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom, formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, to challenge the then-monopoly of British Telecom (BT). Although it proved only moderately successful at challe ...
laid the LANIS fibre-optic cables. LANIS-1 runs for between Port Grenaugh and Blackpool, and LANIS-2 runs for between the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland. They have six channels each with a bandwidth of 565 Mbit/s. The LANIS cables are now operated by
Cable & Wireless. The LANIS-1 cable was damaged 600 m off Port Grenaugh on 27 November 2006, causing loss of the link and resulting in temporary Internet access issues for some Manx customers whilst it was awaiting repair.
On 17 November 2001 Manx Telecom became part of mmO
2 following the demerger of
BT Wireless's operations from BT Group, and the company was owned by Telefónica. On 4 June 2010 Manx Telecom was sold by Telefónica to UK private equity investor
HgCapital
Hg is a private equity firm targeting technology buyouts primarily in Europe and the US. Hg focuses on investments in technology and services sectors. It invests out of its 8th £2.5 billion core fund and its 2nd £575 million Mercury fund, target ...
(who were buying the majority stake), alongside telecoms management company CPS Partners
In December 2007, the
Manx Electricity Authority
The Manx Electricity Authority ( gv, Lught-reill Lectraghys Manninagh) was a Statutory Board of the Isle of Man Government which generated and supplied electricity for the Isle of Man. In 2014 it became part of the Manx Utilities Authority when i ...
and its telecoms subsidiary,
e-llan Communications, commissioned the lighting of a new undersea fibre-optic link. It was laid in 1999 between Blackpool and Douglas as part of the
Isle of Man to England Interconnector
The Isle of Man to England Interconnector is a submarine power cable connecting the transmission system of the Manx Electricity Authority to that of Great Britain. With an undersea section of approximately , it is the second longest AC undersea ...
which connects the Manx electricity system to the UK's
National Grid.
In December 2017,
Horizon Electronics Isle of Man (formerly Horizon Electro) helped with the online TV services of the Isle of Man.
According to the CIA World Factbook, in 1999 there were 51,000 fixed telephone lines in use in the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man is included within the
UK telephone numbering system, and is accessed externally via UK area codes, rather than by its own
country calling code
Country calling codes or country dial-in codes are telephone number prefixes for reaching telephone subscribers in the networks of the member countries or regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The codes are defined by the ...
. The area codes currently in use are: +44 1624 (landlines) and +44 7425 / +44 7624 / +44 7924 (mobiles).
Submarine communications cables in service
*BT-MT1 (BT/Manx Telecom, 1990 - UK)
* BT-MT1-NI (BT/Manx Telecom, 2000 - Northern Ireland (UK))
*LANIS-1 (Cable & Wireless, 1992 - UK)
*LANIS-2 (Cable & Wireless, 1992 - Northern Ireland (UK))
*Isle of Man to England Interconnector (Manx Electricity Authority, 2007 - UK)
*Aqua Comms Isle of Man Link to Ireland and the USA
*Aqua Comms Isle of Man Link to Blackpool UK
Submarine cables in Manx waters are governed by the Submarine Cables Act 2003 (an
Act of Tynwald
An Act of Tynwald is a statute passed by Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man.
Structure
Acts of Tynwald are structured in a similar format to Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Commencement
Originally, each Act began with the f ...
).
Telecoms service providers
*
Manx Telecom
, logo =
, caption =
, type = Subsidiary
, location_city = Braddan
, location_country = Isle of Man
, area_served = Worldwide
, key_people = Gary Lamb Kevin Walsh
, industry = Tel ...
The incumbent provider offering all types of telecoms and owner of the national network.
*
Sure The islands second full service provider offering all types of telecommunications from: Mobiles, Broadband, Home Phone, Private Circuits, Dedicated Internet Access, Data Centre Hosting, LAN/WAN/PABX consultancy etc.
Wi-ManxVoIP and internet services provider since 2007. In 2014 Wi-Manx were granted a Full Telecoms Operator license.
Opti-Fi LimitedA fast-growing ISP, delivering super-fast fibre, wireless technology, IoT, and networking services throughout the Isle of Man. In 2020 Opti-Fi gained its ISP licence.
* Mantis A provider of Satellite broadband services, and IT support on the Isle of Man.
Manx Technology GroupAn IT support, Managed IT solutions, infrastructure management, device-as-a-service, 24×7 help-desk, reporting and IT security solutions company.
DomiciliumBorn out of Advanced Systems (One of the original service providers in Europe) Domicilium is primarily a business ISP providing network and hosting services. Domicilium was the first IOM provider to offer MPLS services to the UK.
Continent 8Hosting provider with locations all over the world. Continent 8 have a specific focus on the gaming industry but are a registered internet provider on the IOM.
NetceteraOffers hosting and co-location in its Ballasalla data centre.
*
BlueWave Communications A provider of ISP and 4G services to business and consumers. BlueWave Communications is a communications service provider located in Douglas on the Isle of Man who were granted their Full Telecoms Operator licence i
2018 It was founded in 2007
by
Stuart Baggs and provides communications services to both businesses and consumers on the Isle of Man.
It is also rumoured that various online gaming companies operate their own networks outside of these providers, although they do not resell that service.
Mobile telephones
The mobile phone network operated by Manx Telecom has been used by
O2 as an environment for developing and testing new products and services prior to wider rollout. In December 2001, the company became the first telecommunications operator in Europe to launch a live
3G network. In November 2005, the company became the first in Europe to offer its customers an
HSDPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile protocols—High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)—that extends and improves the performance of existing 3G mobile telecommunicat ...
(3.5G) service.
[Manx Telecom website](_blank)
. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
Sure built their own mobile network on the island in 2007 and following various upgrades now deliver 2G/3G and 4G services
Internet
In 1996 the Isle of Man government obtained permission to use the
.im
.im is the Internet country code top-level domain ( ccTLD) for the Isle of Man. It is administered by the Government of the Isle of Man and managed on a day-to-day basis by Domicilium, an offshore Internet Service Provider based on the Isle of Man ...
national top level domain (TLD) and has ultimate responsibility for its use. The domain is managed on a daily basis by Domicilium (IOM) Limited, an island based Internet service provider. Broadband Internet services are available through five local providers which are
Manx Telecom
, logo =
, caption =
, type = Subsidiary
, location_city = Braddan
, location_country = Isle of Man
, area_served = Worldwide
, key_people = Gary Lamb Kevin Walsh
, industry = Tel ...
SureWi-ManxDomiciliumOpti-Fi Limitedand
BlueWave Communications.
In 2021 it was revealed Bluewave host a
Ground station
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves fro ...
for the
Starlink
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 45 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019. As ...
Satellite Internet system
Broadcasting
Radio
The public-service commercial
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
station for the island is
Manx Radio
Manx Radio (legally Radio Manx Ltd.) ( gv, Radio Vannin) is the national commercial radio station for the Isle of Man. It began broadcasting on 29 June 1964, almost ten years before commercial radio was licensed in the United Kingdom. The Isle of ...
. Manx Radio is part funded by government grant, and partly by advertising. There are two other Manx-based FM radio stations,
Energy FM and
3 FM.
BBC national radio stations are also relayed locally via a transmitter located to the south of Douglas, relayed from
Sandale transmitting station
The Sandale transmitting station is the main radio transmitting station for the county of Cumbria, including the Lake District, and eastern Dumfries and Galloway. It used to broadcast regional variations of BBC One and BBC Two until digital sw ...
in Cumbria, as well as a signal feed from the
Holme Moss transmitting station
The Holme Moss transmitting station is a radio transmitting station at Holme Moss in West Yorkshire, England. The mast provides VHF coverage of both FM and DAB to a wide area around the mast including Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, South Yor ...
in
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
. The Douglas transmitter also broadcasts the BBC's DAB digital radio services and
Classic FM.
Manx Radio is the only local service to broadcast on AM medium wave. No UK services are relayed via local AM transmitters. No
longwave
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
stations operate from the Island, although one (MusicMann 279) was proposed. There are currently no proposals to broadcast any of the three insular FM stations on DAB.
Transmitters
* Snaefell - Manx Radio, Energy FM, 3FM
* Foxdale - Manx Radio (AM)
* Mull Hill (near Port St. Mary) - Energy FM, 3FM
* Jurby - Energy FM, Manx Radio,
* Ramsey - Manx Radio, Energy FM, 3FM, Horizon Pulse, (a nearby site also used for television broadcasts the BBC DAB multiplex)
* Ballasaig (Maughold) - Energy FM
* Carnane (Douglas) - Manx Radio, Energy FM, 3FM, Horizon Pulse, Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Classic FM, BBC DAB multiplex
* Port St Mary - 3FM, BBC DAB multiplex
* Beary Peark - Energy FM, 3FM
* Peel - Manx Radio
* Cronk ny Arrey - 3FM
Television
There is no island-specific television service. Local transmitters retransmit UK
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
broadcasts. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
that launched in 2011 and positioned at the Isle of Man registered 115.1 degrees West longitude
point. In some areas,
can also be received.
Analogue television transmission ceased between 2008 and 2009, when limited local transmission of
commenced. The UK's
regime extends to the island.
There is no island-specific opt-out of the BBC regional news programme ''
) from 12 October 1951. Signals from Holme Moss were easily received on the Isle of Man.
television has been available on parts of the east of the Isle of Man on 3 May 1956 when
. Parts of the north of the island received
from 1974). On 26 March 1965, Border Television commenced relay of their signal through a local transmitter on Richmond Hill, above sea level and from the centre of
. The site allowed reliable reception of the Caldbeck signal, which is rebroadcast on a different frequency. The high transmission tower was re-sited from
, where it had been used for early ITV transmissions. Richmond Hill was decommissioned after the close of
transmitting on 96.9 MHz and then 97.3 MHz until 1989. Manx Radio moved their FM service to the Carnane site and the frequency changed to the current 97.2 MHz.
The television broadcasts are now transmitted from a high transmitter on a hill to the south of Douglas. The transmitter is operated by
and is directly fed using a fibre optic cable. There are further sub-relay transmitters across the island. Following a realignment of ITV regional services and the digital switchover, the Douglas relay switched ITV broadcasts to Granada Television on Thursday 17 July 2009.
The Broadcasting Act 1993 (An Act of Tynwald) allows for the establishment of local television services. Only one application for a licence to run such a service was received by the
. That application was rejected.
According to the CIA World Factbook, in 1999 there were 27,490 televisions in use in the Isle of Man.
* Kimmeragh (Bride)
* Beary Peark (St Johns)
* Glen Maye
* Foxdale
* Port St. Mary
* Carnane (Douglas)
* Union Mills
* Laxey
* Jurby
* Ramsey
issues its own stamps for use within the island and for sending post off-island. Only Manx stamps are valid for sending mail using the postal system. The Isle of Man adopted
system.