Mobile phones: Malta talking more, texting more

Mobile telephone subscriptions reached 422,083 at the end of last year, an increase of 9.5 per cent from the end of 2008, the Malta Communications Authority said today in a market review.

"The increase in the number of mobile subscriptions translated into a higher mobile penetration rate for Malta, from 93.2 per cent at the end of 2008 to 102.1 per cent at the end of 2009," the MCA said.

A total of 127.5 million voice calls were made in the second half of 2009, generating 161.7 million voice call minutes, up from 129.3 million in the second half of 2008.

During the same period, 266.1 million text messages were made, also up steeply on the previous year.

Vodafone accounted for 49.6 per cent of all mobile subscriptions from 52.2 per cent at the end of 2008. GO had 43.2 per cent from 45.9 the year before. The changes were a result of Melita's entry into the market at the end of 2009. Melita accounted for 5.6 per cent of all mobile subscriptions at that time, Redtouchfone accounted for the remaining 1.7 per cent.

In terms of traffic, Vodafone had 53.8%, GO 38.1%, Melita, 7.4% and Redtouchfone 0.7%.