Melita promises to 'rock' mobile phone market

Melita, together with Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson, has completed a €40 million mobile network investment, becoming the first service provider in the world to integrate mobile broadband into its existing cable-TV network.

Melita's chief operating officer Stephen Wright said that with the high speed packet access (HSPA) mobile broadband, the company will rock the market with substantially cheaper prices for mobile usage.

Promising an excellent service, he said the company is set to launch a full, nationwide mobile phone service on February 1.

Ericsson's head of market for southeast Europe, Cesare Avenia, described the Melita mobile project as "challenging" because both companies' network engineers had to integrate a mobile services' network into Melita's already established fibre-optic cable platform in a short, six-month timeframe.

Ericsson is a world-leading 3G supplier and its market share for the GSM family is more than 40 per cent. Over 1,000 networks in more than 175 countries utilise Ericsson's network equipment and 40 per cent of all mobile calls worldwide are made through its systems.

Addressing a press conference at Melita's Control Centre in Madliena, in the presence of Communications Minister Austin Gatt, Mr Wright said Melita has become Malta's third full service mobile telephony operator.

It is also one of the first quad-play service providers to offer full integration of four telecommunication services: television, internet, fixed-line telephony and mobile communication.

Mr Wright said this was the first time mobile users in Malta will experience the real benefits of the liberalisation of telecommunications. The company has signed nearly 600 agreements with third party mobile operators in over 200 countries for a comprehensive international roaming service. Its investment includes a customer experience enhancement programme and follows a recruitment drive that has seen 100 new people employed by Melita in 2008, including 20 new officers to help run the company's customer assistance centre round the clock. New outlets have also been opened in Naxxar, Msida and in the Arrivals Lounge at Malta International Airport. Another outlet in Paola is due to open soon.

Dr Gatt said that thanks to this investment, customers will be getting a "greater deal than they ever had before".

The investment was possible because of the high level of service provided in Malta and policies that encouraged investment, he said.