IT strategy aims to take Malta into broadband champions' league

A National Broadband Strategy published yesterday proposes that new pricing models need to be devised to encourage more people to shift to internet broadband.

Subsidising the cost of modems and offering metered services (pay as you use) at cheaper prices would encourage more take-up, the strategy suggests.

The ambitious 36-page document, a joint initiative of the IT Ministry and the Communications Authority, aims to propel Malta into "the champions' league" of broadband technologies in the next five years.

With a programme of works covering the period 2004 - 2006, the strategy is based on the objectives set within the eEurope 2005 action plan and takes into consideration the characteristics of Malta.

Broadband is the latest in high speed internet access technology, delivering access at speeds hundreds of times faster than a dial-up modem.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a meeting of the National Council for IT Strategy, IT Minister Austin Gatt said the government was determined to invest further in this sector.

Internet penetration in Malta is calculated to be at 49 per cent and in the last quarter of 2003, 30 per cent of internet subscriptions were broadband. With 5.4 per cent using broadband, Malta's average was marginally less than the EU figure of six per cent.

Focusing on both the demand and supply side of the broadband issue, the strategy identifies key deliverables leading to an increase of usage of this technology.

Where the residential user is concerned, the strategy suggests aggressive marketing and awareness campaigns coupled with discount offers to entice non-users to test internet-related technologies.

For small and medium enterprises, it was agreed that through the adoption of broadband technology, businesses would enhance their communication with clients and their suppliers.

Broadband has the potential to substantially change the way of conducting business not only through faster, always-on internet access, but also by making it more productive and innovative.

The strategy points out that there is a lack of local content, especially when one considers the availability of e-content in the Maltese language.

Schemes will have to be devised to ensure that prices will not be a deterrent to the creation of an information society.

Inflexible pricing structures limit the take-up of broadband to heavy internet users who use the medium during the day and to other rather "sophisticated" audiences, such as those that download music.

However, Dr Gatt pointed out that it was an "illusion" that internet prices in Malta were more expensive than in other countries.

The strategy says that Malta's geographical size coupled with the right decision to switch to a digital network had resulted in adequate infrastructure, which spreads throughout most of the territory.

Over the next two years the government would ensure that Malta was supplied with the necessary international connectivity to global internet backbones at an equitable price.

The government would also seek to make full use of existing infrastructures to offer broadband services and encourage service providers to invest in promoting the use of new technologies.

It was also agreed that the government should partner up with key players in the telecoms industry to produce a regular inventory.

On its part, the MCA would implement a regulatory framework, which supported competition and secured a balance between the rights of the consumer and the commercial gains of the providers.

Dr Gatt said the strategy would be formally presented to the Cabinet in the coming weeks.