Quad play is not the Holy Grail
Vodafone Malta does not yet see a business case in investing in its very own television channel delivery service to become a quadruple player like Go and Melita Cable, and thus being able to bundle together TV access, fixed telephony, mobile telephony...
Vodafone Malta does not yet see a business case in investing in its very own television channel delivery service to become a quadruple player like Go and Melita Cable, and thus being able to bundle together TV access, fixed telephony, mobile telephony and internet access.
Joseph Cuschieri, head of consumer business at Vodafone Malta, said the company is keeping its options open with respect to TV and does not feel it is in any way disadvantaged just because it does not have TV in its portfolio of services.
"Experience in other EU countries has shown that quad play strategies are not necessarily the 'holy grail' for success in today's market environment," he insisted.
"For example, if your current broadband and TV service provider gives you a poor service, most likely the customer will not trust that service provider with his/her personal mobile communications. The average subscriber for TV packages in Malta is currently paying for free-to-air television channels.
"This is not very encouraging. I would say that if you compare, for example, the Maltese and UK markets, we have comparable products and quality in mobile communications services but we are years behind in terms of TV content and broadband packages. It is really the TV and broadband services market where we lag behind mostly in terms of quality, content and price."
Last year Malta witnessed a consolidation of its communication market with Maltacom being fully privatised, renamed and re-branded as Go and acquiring digital terrestrial TV (DTTV) operator Multiplus to become a quad player. Then Melita Cable entered into agreement with 3G Telecommunications, the third 3G mobile communications player in Malta, to roll out the third 3G network, thus also becoming a quad player.
"We are looking forward to compete in a multi-player market. Vodafone Malta will continue to provide high quality services and good value to its customers, which is ultimately what the customer wants," he said, while adding that his company entirely owns its international cable link and, during this year, it will dedicate further investment towards redundancy on this link.
This investments follow the launch of the second submarine data cable by Go and the announcement that Melita Cable will have its own cable later on this year.
Vodafone Malta will also be involved in the launch of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the coming months. These operators will use Vodafone's network to target particular niche segments of the market which are traditionally served by the main mobile operators such as teenagers and students. Negotiations are still under way and two MVNOs are expected to launch after lengthy negotiations that have started several months ago, proof that such a development in no plain sailing for the parties on the negotiating table.
The local market will end up with three mobile network operators (MNO) and a few MVNOs.
"The market will tell whether there is space for a third MNO, and whether the investment and technological infrastructure required will make it viable to have three MNOs in the future," the head of consumer business at Vodafone Malta said.
In the meantime the company is busy extended its high-speed 3G mobile network (HSDPA) and WiMAX wireless high-speed internet access to provide nationwide coverage over the next few months.
"Take up of WiMAX has been very good and in line with our expectations. We will grow our market share to challenge the existing duopoly in broadband services that has kept prices so high and quality so low," claimed Mr Cuschieri. "From the standpoint of the user experience, WiMAX is proving to be an alternative broadband product to the incumbent ADSL and Cable services and provides several benefits such as easy and free installation, speed, and superior customer care on a 24/7 basis."
Vodafone Malta is the first WiMAX operator in Malta, launching in June 2007 in line with its license.
The two other WiMAX licensees, Go Mobile and Cellcom, has so far failed to launch in breach of their license conditions, claiming they need to wait for the latest technology standards to be adopted by the equipment manufacturers. The launch date of either of these operators is yet unknown.
However established services like SMS continue to go very strong. It is very popular among Maltese consumers, who are the highest users of SMS in Europe with over 100 SMS per user, per month. There is also growth in the use of mobile handsets for internet access on the company's information platform Vodafone live! and MMS.
"We are happy with the take-up of Vodafone live! And, since the introduction of 3G, we have experienced an upward trend in usage mainly in music downloads and MMS. We will continue the development on this platform in the near future with the inclusion of links to popular search engines and other internet sites such as facebook.
"We will continue to introduce more mobile data services around Vodafone live! for consumers and mobile tools for our business customers."
Following the success of a number of wireless broadband products such as Wireless Push Email, 3G/HSDPA data access USB modem and WiMAX, the company is planning to launch other products which will provide more mobility for business users.
"However we also see potential in voice traffic. We want to generate more voice traffic to balance the use of SMS and our offerings will take this into account," concluded the head of consumer business at Vodafone Malta.
Joseph Cuschieri, head of consumer business at Vodafone Malta, said the company is keeping its options open with respect to TV and does not feel it is in any way disadvantaged just because it does not have TV in its portfolio of services.
"Experience in other EU countries has shown that quad play strategies are not necessarily the 'holy grail' for success in today's market environment," he insisted.
"For example, if your current broadband and TV service provider gives you a poor service, most likely the customer will not trust that service provider with his/her personal mobile communications. The average subscriber for TV packages in Malta is currently paying for free-to-air television channels.
"This is not very encouraging. I would say that if you compare, for example, the Maltese and UK markets, we have comparable products and quality in mobile communications services but we are years behind in terms of TV content and broadband packages. It is really the TV and broadband services market where we lag behind mostly in terms of quality, content and price."
Last year Malta witnessed a consolidation of its communication market with Maltacom being fully privatised, renamed and re-branded as Go and acquiring digital terrestrial TV (DTTV) operator Multiplus to become a quad player. Then Melita Cable entered into agreement with 3G Telecommunications, the third 3G mobile communications player in Malta, to roll out the third 3G network, thus also becoming a quad player.
"We are looking forward to compete in a multi-player market. Vodafone Malta will continue to provide high quality services and good value to its customers, which is ultimately what the customer wants," he said, while adding that his company entirely owns its international cable link and, during this year, it will dedicate further investment towards redundancy on this link.
This investments follow the launch of the second submarine data cable by Go and the announcement that Melita Cable will have its own cable later on this year.
Vodafone Malta will also be involved in the launch of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in the coming months. These operators will use Vodafone's network to target particular niche segments of the market which are traditionally served by the main mobile operators such as teenagers and students. Negotiations are still under way and two MVNOs are expected to launch after lengthy negotiations that have started several months ago, proof that such a development in no plain sailing for the parties on the negotiating table.
The local market will end up with three mobile network operators (MNO) and a few MVNOs.
"The market will tell whether there is space for a third MNO, and whether the investment and technological infrastructure required will make it viable to have three MNOs in the future," the head of consumer business at Vodafone Malta said.
In the meantime the company is busy extended its high-speed 3G mobile network (HSDPA) and WiMAX wireless high-speed internet access to provide nationwide coverage over the next few months.
"Take up of WiMAX has been very good and in line with our expectations. We will grow our market share to challenge the existing duopoly in broadband services that has kept prices so high and quality so low," claimed Mr Cuschieri. "From the standpoint of the user experience, WiMAX is proving to be an alternative broadband product to the incumbent ADSL and Cable services and provides several benefits such as easy and free installation, speed, and superior customer care on a 24/7 basis."
Vodafone Malta is the first WiMAX operator in Malta, launching in June 2007 in line with its license.
The two other WiMAX licensees, Go Mobile and Cellcom, has so far failed to launch in breach of their license conditions, claiming they need to wait for the latest technology standards to be adopted by the equipment manufacturers. The launch date of either of these operators is yet unknown.
However established services like SMS continue to go very strong. It is very popular among Maltese consumers, who are the highest users of SMS in Europe with over 100 SMS per user, per month. There is also growth in the use of mobile handsets for internet access on the company's information platform Vodafone live! and MMS.
"We are happy with the take-up of Vodafone live! And, since the introduction of 3G, we have experienced an upward trend in usage mainly in music downloads and MMS. We will continue the development on this platform in the near future with the inclusion of links to popular search engines and other internet sites such as facebook.
"We will continue to introduce more mobile data services around Vodafone live! for consumers and mobile tools for our business customers."
Following the success of a number of wireless broadband products such as Wireless Push Email, 3G/HSDPA data access USB modem and WiMAX, the company is planning to launch other products which will provide more mobility for business users.
"However we also see potential in voice traffic. We want to generate more voice traffic to balance the use of SMS and our offerings will take this into account," concluded the head of consumer business at Vodafone Malta.