Updated: Mobile phone rates in Malta among Europe's highest - EU report
The European Commission said today that mobile phone prices in Malta are four times higher than in the cheapest country.
The Malta Communications Authority, in a statement, however, said that prices had gone down since 2008, which was the year on which the report was based.
"Major price differences still exist between Member States both at retail and wholesale level. Retail mobile prices in the most expensive Member States are four times higher than in the cheapest, e.g. €0.04 cents per minute in Latvia compared with €0.24 in Malta," the Commission said in a report.
This situation is partly due to different regulatory approaches across the EU.
"Consumers and business still face 27 fragmented national markets. National telecoms regulators often delay, sometimes by years, the enforcement of EU rules. For example, in wholesale broadband markets, some national regulators control the fibre networks of the incumbent operators, while others limit regulation to the old copper-based technology. Regulation of wholesale broadband markets shapes the competitive landscape and so determines the price and quality of broadband products available to consumers and businesses," the Commission said.
The report provides an overview of the European market in general and comments on developments in each member state. With respect to Malta, the report highlights growth in the total turnover of the sector reaching 261 million in 2008, a 6% increase over 2007. In addition, market players invested €41 million in 2008.
‘It is heartening to see continued growth and investment in this sector despite the challenging economic environment,’ said the Chairman of the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), Ing Philip Micallef.
The report points out that all telecoms sectors - fixed and mobile telephony, broadband and TV - reported growth during 2009. According to the EU Commission, ‘broadband penetration continued to grow by 2.9% points from January 2009 to January 2010 to reach 26.8% in January 2010, above the EU average of 24.8%. In addition, Maltese consumers were also benefitting from further improvements in the price-speed ratio, with the vast majority (97.5%) of subscribers enjoying speeds of 2Mbps or higher.’
Furthermore, with respect to mobile telephony, the report states that ‘penetration continued to grow, reaching 101.0% in July 2009 compared to 94.5% in July 2008.’
Quoting MCA’s statistics, the Commission noted that ‘mobile telephony registered considerable gains in traffic volume. The number of outgoing mobile voice calls reached 121.6 million up to June 2009. On average, the number of outgoing calls in the first quarter 2009 reached 157.4 per active mobile subscription, representing a 4.7% increase compared to the previous quarter. National outgoing mobile voice call minutes in the first half of 2009 increased by 21% compared to the same period in 2008.’
On the report's reference to Malta mobile phone prices, the MCA pointed out that a 3rd network operator entered the market in early 2009. According to its calculations, the average price per minute decreased from €0.24 in 2008 to around €0.17 in 2009.
On fixed telephony, the report states that ‘outgoing fixed voice minutes increased to 365.2 million in the first 6 months of 2009 corresponding to a 13.2% increase compared to the same period in 2008. The number of fixed line subscribers increased by 1.6% from the end of 2008 to a total of approximately 245,000 in the end of June 2009.’
On the take up of pay TV the report notes that ‘during the first half of 2009 (pay TV subscriptions) continued to grow. At the end of the second quarter 2009, pay TV subscriptions reached 137,377, up by 10.2% over a 12 month period. As at the end of second quarter 2009, digital pay TV subscriptions amounted to 94,431.’
The full report provides further information on the Maltese and European market and a link can be found on the MCA website www.mca.org.mt
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simon cutajar
May 27th 2010, 17:38
First of all I wish to say that vodafone malta is the worst and most expansive . I have bad experience of them and I wish to transfer it to other vodafone clients . And yes mobile phones are skyhigh in prices here ! for example samsung J 700 I bought it from bulgaria last year for 70 euros while it was 120 euros , samsung tocco from ireland I bought it for 70 euros while here it's still 125 euros and an LG shine from the internet costs me 65 euros while in here was 150 euros .
what is happening ?
Muscat pat
May 27th 2010, 16:42
I think that it is not fair to criticise the mobile operators without studying the reasons why such "high costs". One has to realise that Vodafone started from zero this investment in Malta and it has to recoup its monies plus profit.. Beside it has not stood still and continued to invest in new technology. Not so much the other "privatised" monopolies.! These were given the cake on a silver platter, baked ,cooked and ready to be eaten. I have in mind the "lotteries": even Cetta knows how to organize a tombla, and the Airport, where a coffee and its landing monopoly is costing us more , much more than the" inefficient" former airport. Likewise the port monopoly; 40 sterling for an item picked-up from London and sea transport to Malta; 160 Euros for "processing" and transport from the Port to Hal-Far! Every major bulky thing imported into Malta passes through this monopolistic Euro sucker.
N.Lawrence
May 27th 2010, 15:09
It all boils down to one thing-
If you don't like the costs- why do you buy into it?
A Micallef
May 26th 2010, 11:06
It is not just the cost of the calls whch are exorbitant. I recently purchased a mobile from Vodafone Malta costing 79 euros (vodafone 541 touch) I since discovered the exact same phone is sold by Vodafone UK for 30 pounds sterling. Same phone, same plan, pay as you go. Welcome to Malta, haven to every rip off merchant.
P, Schembri
May 26th 2010, 10:31
I wonder what this newspaper's weekly subscriber, and member of the MCA board have to say about this? Maybe this week she'll explain this to us, instead of writing about the good PN and the evil PL!
Of course, I'm referring to Ms. Berta Sullivan!
Antoine Grima
May 26th 2010, 10:03
Unless something is being done about it , i don't really want to now cos it only cheeses me off even more about the fact that i am being cheated every day from everyone around me. I thought that by joining the EU all this would stop.How wrong i was !!!!!!!
A Zammit
May 26th 2010, 09:17
To all those radio engineers who said that they would like a sicilian network to spill over to Malta. With Today's technology that would be absolutely impossible to achieve and is practically impossible by any immaginable law of physics at least with the phonew we are used to today.
Further on just in case you did not figure it out when you make a phone call you today transmit your nice cute voice to the network whose access point in located maybe 0.5 to 1.5 Km away from you, For that to reach up to sicily you would require a 1Kw to 2Kw transmitter with directional antennas and located on high ground to go past the radio horizon. That would simplisticly mean that you phone would as a minimum be the size of a caravan.
Further on prices are set by the market and by the cost of investment as well as the cost of operating that investment which goes into the millions of euros for a country like hours especially with the present electricity rates.
Hope that clarifies it all.
B. Zammit
May 26th 2010, 12:15
I am not a radio engineer (wish I was!).
What happens on the small islands close to Sicily like Pantelleria or Lipari? They are more than 1.5km away from Sicily. For all I know subscribers on these islands pay more than us, but it would be good to know.
MSciberras
May 26th 2010, 12:41
A Zammit
I think you are very much mistaken, nothwithstanding the sarcasm....... The technology exists for a mobile provider to provider his services across borders ( as opposed to buying local operators and taking over their networks and infrastructure, as Vodaphone does, which however means that cost benefits from investing in trans-border infrastructure cannot be realised because the current regulatory environment across Europe prevents this ) - it is no different to the technology that is already in place. As the article correctly states, the market remains fragmented because of political reasons, dressed up as differences in national regulatory rules that remain unresolved despite the so-called internal market, which remains a fiction not a reality when it comes to MOST services. As an example, Spanish providers are responsible for providing mobile phone services in the Canary Islands, far away on the Atlantic Coast of Africa. Same provider, same infrastructure, same networks - the point however, is that it is also the same country. So much for the internal market.
joseph galea
May 27th 2010, 13:26
The best way to get back at this situation is to minimise the use of this means of comunication.
It is useless grumbling about being ripped off when we show that we enjoy it.
It is amamzing that when it comes to negative results we are always among the first ;on the contrary for benefits.
Malta will always be Malta: in or out of Europe.
The consumer needs to put more action less words.
This is the only way to prevent 'fat' people' becoming 'fatter'. A strong diet on their revenue.
joe the plumber
L.Farrugia
May 26th 2010, 08:59
Apart from being charged more than other European countries in certain towns and villages the service leaves much to be desired. We living in the streets behind Hamrun Parish Church area have to go out in the street to answer a phone call on our mobile which is served by GO. We have been told that the situation will be better soon for the last year and half.
Mario Micallef
May 26th 2010, 08:30
To confirm this...few months ago I had written a letter on this newspaper to ask why such a descrepancy in international sms prices exist...I cannot believe how Im charged 0.23c per message when sending from Malta to another country whilst when im on roaming in the EU it costs just 0.13c!!! Not 1 operator bothered to answer my question and further more i confirm that the 3 operators work in a cartel style pricing system...look at their tariffs for the above mentioned service...surprisingly enough they charge the same!! what a laugh...its just another case of saying HOPELESS CASE!!!!
r ferriggi
May 26th 2010, 08:16
just one comment:
my british friends ( who have bought property here ) say that malta is now exorbitantly expensive.
i just tell them,,,,,,thanks goodness you do not have OUR wages!!!!!
''scraping for a living'' takes on a new meaning.
simon camilleri
May 26th 2010, 06:45
ahna fdan il-pajjiz fxi haga hekk lewwel nigu,aktar ahna inpaxuwom ghax nibqaw nuzaw hafna il-mobile vera huwa bzonjuz imma hemm limitu.qedin inpaxxuwom biex ihaxnu buwtom mien immexi il kumpanija tal-linji tal mobiles u xejn aktar.u ahna naqalaw fuqq wiccna.jien lewwel wihed ndahal xi 2cards fil gimgha imma issa daqsek 2 fil gimgha irida tibda is-servini aktar fit tul.u jalla jkun awn min jaghmel phali hali dawn in-nies jihdu taghlima u jkolom irahsuwom it-tarriffi
laurence schembri
May 26th 2010, 05:55
......and food, clothes, shoes, electricity and water...need I go on.
H Galea
May 26th 2010, 05:24
Did any one experience the rates of a call from the hospital bed!!!! Yes a pensioner to call home will cost him Euro four per day, I ask all concerned to give us a better choise. This is abuse, and ask MP's to take action. (next time he will have a world tour)
P Sciberras
May 26th 2010, 02:29
Unfortunately, it is not just the telephone mobile rates that are a scam in Malta, one has to also question why it takes 6 months for the electric bill to arrive??? At the end of the day, we really don't know how anyone can afford the exorbitent rates for a mobile phone, cable tv, and electricity. It's an atrocity and the government should be asking why??? not the people!
Adrian Said
May 25th 2010, 23:04
For a change we have the highest prices in europe... like cars,medicine, etc etc.
Philip Sultana
May 25th 2010, 23:01
How shameful! How can this be justified?
Robert Mifsud
May 25th 2010, 20:40
Proof of all the excessive prices in Malta is the increase of transactions through internet,and its not one item but hundreds of them,including the mobile tariffs.What is the goverment going to do or will the blame go to the regulator as often is done.Everything is a rip-off on this island.Wake up gonzi pn hu hsieb il familji mhux bil paroli !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C.Farrugia
May 26th 2010, 10:03
Agree 100%.....EVERYTHING is a rip-off on this island!!
lgalea
May 26th 2010, 11:19
Robert Mifsud Including the Government itself. Wait, the Government is the major ripper.
amifsud
May 25th 2010, 19:57
"Retail mobile prices in the most expensive Member States are four times higher than in the cheapest, e.g. €0.04 cents per minute in Latvia compared with €0.24 in Malta"
Hmm...is that not 6 times more expensive? I've been out of school for a while but my calculator just confirmed it.
Chris Grillo
May 25th 2010, 19:41
I can't believe this. When Voda and Wind in Italy routinely advertise their wares, I usually work it out find that the calls and texts are quite higher...
How can one get a message for cheaper than those offered by GO? Are they free?
N.Lawrence
May 25th 2010, 19:34
As long as people are falling over themselves to have multiple 'phone accounts, don't expect the price to fall.
Maria Zammit
May 25th 2010, 19:29
Dear Readers, of course you'll be ripped off if you don't complain or take a stand and stop using your mobile phone for at least one day! Perhaps, we are after all the richest of the EU states, since we can afford not to complain when we are ripped off!!!
Peter Busuttil
May 25th 2010, 18:41
It's true that mobile phone prices aren't exactly cheap here in our blessed isle. 3 years ago, I was lucky to buy a mobile phone from the UK that was Lm100 cheaper than here in Malta. That's right...100 Maltese liri and not euros! And last December I bought a brand new laptop, €170 cheaper than its counterpart here.....complete with 2 years insurance. That's right folks, TWO years insurance!
Albert Farrugia
May 25th 2010, 18:01
The same with electricity...this is all about ecomomies of scale....what need does a tiny island have of having a complete independent mobile phone setup, actually two? As B. Zammit said, all that needs to be done is that Malta becomes part of the mobile coverage of Sicily...and that is that. Though on paper it looks great, being independent in all things has a high price. As we are also seeing in case of electricity. I hope more informed citizens will begin to realise this basic truth and begin campagining for the obvious solutions to Maltas infrastructure problems.
R.Hastings
May 25th 2010, 19:48
Not only electricity and mobile phones, but i just hared on the Dutch tv news, that the cost of a new driving licence valid 10 years is not going to cost more then 36€. iN Malta i was charged 50€ just doesn't make sence. I reckon the maltese ought to go back to basics and study other countrie's policies, including one licence for any amount of tv's, and also vat import tax on motor vehicles, when i moved to the netherlands from the UK, i only paid the cost of the MOT/APK and a new set of number plates thats all. Something is drastically wrong with your system here my friends, as they seem to charge what ever take their fancy in Malta.
lgalea
May 25th 2010, 19:50
Albert Farrugia what you and B Zammit are suggesting is technically impossible.
Joseph Cauchi
May 26th 2010, 09:49
@ lgalea,
Why is it technically impossible?
Does Sicily, Sardegna, Ischia, Capri, Corsica and all other similar islands, just to give an example, not have their infrastructure on the mainland?
If this is possible for the above, then why not to us?
JC.
joseph cachia
May 25th 2010, 17:37
Commision-regulators and government are all on taxpayers payroll. Ny mode of communication is free for them.
Even dining and wining with operators is free..
Mobile Phones charges in GREAT MANCHESTER are 2 euro cents minute
But we are blind and naive and swallow whatever is thrown in our midst with no questions
asked.
80% of phones are just a show for self esteem
B. Zammit
May 25th 2010, 17:30
One day I hope a mobile phone service provider in Sicily will increase the range by a few KMs south and because of economies of scale offer a better rate to us .
John A. Gauci
May 25th 2010, 17:23
The NP Government should do something about this!
Joseph Mizzi
May 25th 2010, 17:17
Since both political parties media have their own mobile phone companies, it is unlikely that there will be the political drive to reduce the cost!
B Sant
May 25th 2010, 17:35
that s wot i might call conflict of interest
Joseph Spiteri
May 25th 2010, 17:13
At least we top the charts in something!
Alexander Barbara
May 25th 2010, 17:11
As everything else, except the wages, ta.
James Green
May 25th 2010, 17:08
Ladies and Gentlemen..........a big round of applause for the MCA.
malcolm seychell
May 25th 2010, 17:07
Are you all forgetting economies of scale???
We are the smallest country in the EU, so it is natural that prices will be higher especially in this sector.
Robert Agius
May 25th 2010, 18:10
ok then, give us the mobile phone rates for Luxembourg, Iceland and Andorra! While we are at it perhaps you can compare the wages too.
charles vella
May 25th 2010, 20:15
Mr Seychell 1 you have to compare wages 2 It is ridiculous we pay more and earn less. Now a day's you can't make it with out mobile l am useing mobile for the essential thing only and still expensive
A. Borg
May 25th 2010, 17:00
No news.Everyone knew about this but Maltese authorities have to be kicked in the back to take action.
Geoffrey Mifsud Farrugia
May 25th 2010, 16:59
and the article should have also added with salaries in Malta amongst the lowest in Europe - for completeness sake.
kevin azzopardi
May 25th 2010, 17:17
Even govt induced costs are the highest, so no surprise that everything else is the highest in Malta. just the wrong things
lgalea
May 25th 2010, 16:50
The Commission said that the medicines are the responsibility of the government to regulate. That's why they are so costly. Anyone bets that if the same question was to made made to the Commission regarding mobile phones the answer would be the same?
P.Cassar
May 25th 2010, 16:43
NOW PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THAT THE E.U ITSELF HAS ALSO JOINED THE DOOMERS. KNOW WHAT I MEAN MR MARTINELLI BUT PERHAPS YOU DO NOT READ SUCH GLOOM.
BY THE WAY WHERE IS THE REGULATOR??? TAKING A NAP WITH THE OTHER REGULATORS.....ALL ON OUR MONEY BUT PORTECTING SOMEBODY ELSE.
POOR MALTA
G. Fenech
May 25th 2010, 16:43
Not to be cynical, but isnt everything more expensive in Malta?
Considering how many people buy everyday stuff from ebay / play / amazon and have it shipped here to save money... people fly up to the UK and drive down cars to save money, go shopping for clothes to London and still save money.
Arent we aware that everything in Malta is more expensive?
If the title read - Malta will try and compete with EU prices - that would be news. This is just repeating ourselves.
R.Gauci
May 25th 2010, 18:04
What you wrote is all truth ! Malta came second in the list per capita for people making internet purchases across all the EU countries and I understand why!
Yes in Malta everything across the board is Bloody expensive!
Even here in Ireland where I am working and living and the wages are at least double then those in Malta (8.65 euros an hour minimum wage) the Mobile phone Rates are cheaper not to mention foodstuffs, electricity bills,electronic and household equipment,clothes,cars etc.
The only things which are more expensive here are services and rents but you accept that knowing that the minimum wage is higher!
Just for consolation Alcohol and cigarettes are cheaper in Malta!
albert leone ganado
May 25th 2010, 16:42
What has our MCA (Malta Communications authority) been doing about the whole matter of communication charges. Has it got to be the European Commission to point out that the Maltese public is being ripped off.
Is the MCA up to the job of protecting the consumer.? I seriously doubt it.
Jaap Van Leon
May 25th 2010, 16:42
Sorry to contradict, my home is in the Nehterlands and we find mobile phone charges in your country are definitly not among Europe's highest, but in actual fact they are the Highest!
S. Calleja
May 25th 2010, 16:37
I'm still undecided whether this is good news or bad news.
S. Calleja
May 25th 2010, 17:29
For a moment I thought it read "mobile phone usage in Malta among Europe's highest". If it's the rates we're referring to, it's definitely bad news indeed.