Malta tops EU for broadband growth

The growth in broadband has been higher in Malta than anywhere else in the EU over the past year.

Malta registered an increase of 5.8 per cent, far above the 1.6 per cent average in the EU. This gives it a broadband penetration rate of 26.2 per cent, again surpassing the EU average which stands at 23.9 per cent.

The figures come from a European Commission report called Broadband Access In The EU, looking at the period between July 2008 and July 2009. At the end of those 12 months, Malta had 108,554 broadband lines, a steep increase of 24,787 lines in just a year.

The biggest chunk of the island's internet connections were plugged through a cable modem, with 55,557 lines. Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) accounted for 49,463 subscribers while another 3,496 lines used WLL technology.

On the other hand, internet penetration through mobile phones was still very low at the end of July, at just 1.8 per cent compared to the EU average of 4.2 per cent.

The number of broadband lines grew by over 10 per cent on average throughout the EU, despite the gloomy economic environment. In July, there were about 120 million fixed broadband lines in the bloc, of which 11.5 million were added since July 2008.

Denmark and The Netherlands continue to be world leaders in broadband take-up, with nearly 40 per cent of the population enjoying a broadband connection, although growth rates are slowing as they approach saturation.

Malta is among 10 EU countries with a penetration rate above the US.