A target minimum broadband download speed of 50 megabits per second has been set by the Government.

And a letter from Grant Gibbons, Minister of Economic Development, to the Regulatory Authority, said that a universal speed obligation could potentially be mandated for service providers BTC and One Communications.

Dr Gibbons wrote: “The consultation should also assess whether any such potential broadband service obligation mandated upon specified operators should apply to the services provided to all residents, businesses and government-owned entities, for example, schools and government offices, within Bermuda and to 100 per cent of the geographic coverage of Bermuda.”

The letter, written last week to Angela Berry, chairman of the Regulatory Authority, asked the telecoms watchdog to help in formulating and possibly implementing a new universal broadband service obligation, with specific levels of download speeds to apply to different types of customer.

Dr Gibbons wrote: “I concur and agree that the authority should ... pursue its analysis and consultation with all sectoral participants with respect to the above noted recommendations.”

He added: “Finally ... the authority may on its own initiative and upon request of the minister, prepare a report following public consultation that assesses whether the establishment of a funding scheme, contributed to by relevant operators, to support or promote the provision of universal service is necessary and proportionate.”

The letter revealed that the authority earlier this year had said it start work and produce a report “specifically as to whether a funding scheme is necessary”.

And Dr Gibbons said: “I therefore request that the authority commence this work accordingly.”

Both Digicel/BTC and One Communications declined to comment on the letter yesterday.

In a separate development, the Regulatory Authority confirmed it had backed One’s application to start a trial of its high-speed FibreWire broadband service to a small sample of its customer base.

The authority said it had “specified various parameters for the trial to ensure it is consistent with various regulations, as well as the authority’s remit to protect consumer interests and promote competition”.

It added: “The details of the trial are confidential. Households eligible for the trial will be contacted by the company directly to seek consent for their participation.”