Benefits of mobile revolution

They were the size of a soft-drink bottle and cost 44c a minute to make calls. Few owned them, and the owners made sure everybody knew that they were at the cutting edge of technology.

"Telecells", as some still call them, or the more common "mobiles", have come a long way over the past few years. The penetration rate in Malta has soared from 75,000, or 19 per cent, in December 2000 to 280,000 (70 per cent) today.

It was a relief for most of the nation when a second mobile telephony operator started operating. No fewer than 20,000 subscribed to Go Mobile in their first month of operation - December 2000.

By the end of 2001 their customer base was an impressive 76,000 and a year later it rose further still to 110,000. Today Go Mobile has over 122,000 active subscribers.

Short Message Service (SMS) was available for 4c per hit in December 2000, but now costs 2c in the long term with one company, while the other offers what are known as SMSes (they should be referred to as text messages) for 1c to three numbers of choice for the first 100 sent every month, and a flat rate of 2c on all other messages.

Go Mobile offers phone rates of 12c per minute except for the first minute during peak hours (charged at 20c). When they were the only ones in the market, Vodafone used to charge 44c a minute on pre-paid contracts.

The revolution in the mobile telephony sector had to happen. Mobisle Communication Ltd wanted to have a local company, with a local image, rather than introduce another foreign enterprise.

The resultant price war has benefited the consumer greatly, as well as both companies. Buying a phone, buying a line and operating it is definitely much cheaper today. Mobile phone technology has passed the second generation, while the third generation is currently available, although barely acknowledged.

With phones improving and more services offered, more and more people are stepping into the 'mobile' world. As it is, people who already own a phone and decide to buy a new one are likely to pass on their old phone to a relative or friend, resulting in the purchase of a new line - another reason for the increase in the penetration rate.

Vodafone and Go Mobile have had to offer more services, better customer care services and cheaper rates to win new customers as well as clients from each other.

Go Mobile offered Call me since its inception. Through this scheme contract subscribers get discounts or rebates on their phone bills, depending on the total length of phone calls recieved in any month. A similar service was also offered to pre-paid contract subscribers last summer.

Data and Internet services were next to be introduced, followed by Snap and go in October 2002. Through this service Nokia 3650 owners could take, send and receive photos through a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), as well as e-mail. Technological advances meant that more MMS-enabled phones hit the market.

Today practically every new phone on the market has this technology, and phones that cannot recieve photos can recognise the type of message and these can then be opened (and sent) through My Go on www.go.com.mt.

The next step after messaging photographs was almost obvious. Go live allows the storage and transfer of audio and video clips.

The Internet services offered were upgraded to General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) early in 2002. This service, offered free for a trial period, allows users to access certain Websites, while connection is free.

Downloads from Go Mobile's download centre include ring tones, images, wall papers and java games. These are all available at a cost per download. For help on any Go Mobile services call customer care on 146 from a Go Mobile number, or 7922-2146 from any other line, or 1187 (calls cost 10c) for their directory service.

Every month there have been thousands of downloads from http://golive, accessed through the WAP browser. Downloads can be sent to other phones as gifts. Through the advances in mobile-Internet technology, more new lines are going towards data and wireless Internet connectivity for laptop computers and PDAs.

Go Mobile has six retail outlets, including the head office in Marsa.

A seventh is expected to be opened at Bay Street, St George's Bay, in the coming weeks; it is also a demonstration centre for the wireless technology (wi-fi) available locally.

Go Mobile's roaming services are today available in 132 countries, including the United States as well as Vodafone territories, such as the UK, Italy and Spain.

Go Mobile's Lm10 million initial investment has increased, through ongoing investment, in various areas to over Lm22 million and, within 17 months, the company was already boasting profitability. The company now employs over 200 people. All (optimistic) targets set for the first five years have already been met... in under three years.