Melita is to triple its customers’ entry level internet speeds for free until February so that users can experience the capabilities of its fibre power network, chief executive officer Andrei Torriani told The Sunday Times.

The internet is now the largest source of content

From this week, customers currently using five megabits per second will be upgraded to 15 megabits per second. Mr Torriani promised that after February, all customers will enjoy higher speeds than they started out with. Contractual terms may apply.

Melita has also launched a free WiFi service across Paceville to enable potential and existing customers to test fibre power ‘in the air’.

The quad-service provider’s initiative throughout December will allow people using smartphones and tablets in bars and cafes – particularly during the day – to experience the service and signal strength generated by the fibre power network Melita rolled out last June.

“There is a pent-up demand for higher speeds in Malta and fibre power delivers speed and service,” Mr Torriani said. “This is a natural extension of the success Melita has enjoyed since we rolled out the network. In five months, the customer base of our 10 megabit service grew from 10 to 25 per cent.”

In recent weeks, the company issued two press releases quoting international broadband monitor netindex.com’s findings on Melita’s performance. In August, netindex.com found Melita’s average download speed at 17.8 megabits per second to exceed the EU average of 13.35 megabits per second. Mr Torriani said Melita had since improved its speed further to deliver 19 megabits per second.

Three weeks ago netindex.com said Melita had scored a 95.38 per cent on the ‘promise index’ to customers, above the EU average of 85.28 per cent, beating markets such as Italy, Germany, France, Spain and the UK.

The chief executive said the objective behind the decision to extend the fibre power proposition to mobile devices in a specific trial area was to collate as much information as possible on users’ WiFi interactions and signal strength. The data will be used in the design of an eventual nationwide rollout of WiFi services.

Mr Torriani said the company had identified ways to maximise its considerable investment in the fibre power network. Over the past 12 months, Melita’s shareholders have channelled more than €15 million into the business.

While other markets were rolling out 4G networks, Melita was able to increase broadband usage with superior speeds and quality with its existing 3G network, he explained.

A 4G network required the marketing of new handsets and some customers were still using 2G devices.

“WiFi works for everybody,” Mr Torriani pointed out. “It is embedded in laptops, tablets, smartphones and even some non-smartphones. We can deliver on our current investment and the user experience will be better than 4G. We will have to work out the technical and commercial details, but I can foresee an opportunity to provide the service to everybody who has fibre power for free or at greatly discounted rates. We have already taken the price per megabit down by 50 per cent.”

Melita’s core network is key to its services platform. With its history as a cable company, Melita has long recognised that cable is no longer the primary source for content. Last September, Mr Torriani told a gathering in Malta of 150 executives from global companies that cable operators had a new role as access facilities for new content. The internet, not cable, he emphasised, was now the largest source of content.

As TV and internet services continue to converge, Mr Torriani believed it was the network capable of providing the best broadband experience that would enjoy the opportunity to provide interactive TV and services at even higher quality over the internet.

By extending fibre power into wireless, Melita was able to deliver more content to mobile devices – the channel over which customers were increasingly demanding programme streaming.

The company recognised it was important to stay ahead of the evolution of consumer content viewing patterns. Launched in the summer, Melita’s video on demand service, the fibre powered entertainment pack, has witnessed encouraging take-up in its first few weeks.

Transactional video on demand, offering box office hits and classic movies at a charge, was also winning customers – 14 per cent of Melita viewers who had access to the service had rented at least one movie since the introduction of video on demand.

Mr Torriani maintained that the absence of premium football league rights in its portfolio had minimal effect on its overall TV customer numbers. The “conscious decision” to channel investment into other programming rather than into the ever-pricier football rights bids was a matter of “priorities”.

“Rather than cater to the players’ and the leagues’ greed, we chose to deliver the services that our customers were after,” Mr Torriani said.

“Historically, there have never been more than 15 per cent of households subscribed to sports programming in Malta; 85 per cent of the market is driven by other decisions.

We decided to examine our linear line-up and address the gaps by bringing the best in class for the on demand service to our customers.”

Next year, he added, Melita will continue to leverage the capabilities of its fibre power network to extend its WiFi services and content provision platforms, and perfect its mobile coverage further. Far from saturated, the Maltese market presented considerable opportunities for growth as demand for internet-based services continued to rise.

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