Wider service choice, lower prices and higher take-up of mobile services and high-speed internet were registered in the first six months of 2013 as technology continued to evolve and influence consumer choices, according to the semi-annual communications market review published by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA).

The report reveals how the performance in the first half of 2013 for internet connectivity and mobile telephony has been significant, with the two sectors experiencing strong growth in terms of take-up and usage levels.

The number of fixed broadband subscriptions totalled 142,295 at the end of last June, which translates into an increase of 6.2 per cent when compared to June 2012. Meanwhile, the number of end-users actively using their mobile broadband subscription climbed from an average of 219,000 to an average of 244,000.

“The availability of more innov-ative data plans and the continued proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other mobile data-enabled devices have been the major forces behind these increases, although falling prices and the bundling of services played an important role to boost take-up, especially for products supporting higher download/upload speeds and improved download allowances,” the report notes.

At the end of June 2013, the number of mobile subscriptions reached 554,651, up by 3.3 per cent since the end of June 2012, corresponding to a mobile penetration rate of nearly 132 per cent. Prepaid subscriptions account for the lion’s share of the local mobile subscriber base, with 78.8 per cent of total mobile subscriptions recorded at the time.

Mobile traffic volumes grew consistently in the first six months of 2013. Compared to the same period a year earlier, mobile voice calls increased by 21.4 per cent and mobile voice call minutes were up by 12.2 per cent. Traffic volumes grew at a faster rate than subscriptions, thereby resulting in an increase in the number of mobile voice calls and voice call minutes per subscription. The price of mobile calls also continued to fall.

By the end of the first half of 2013, Malta had a total of 142,295 fixed broadband subscriptions. This figure is 6.2 per cent higher than that reported 12 months earlier and corresponds to a fixed broadband penetration rate (measured on the basis of the number of active connections as a proportion of Malta’s population) of 33.9 per cent. The number of fixed broadband subscriptions as part of a bundle continued to grow at a faster pace than new subscriptions. There were 66,866 bundled fixed broadband subscriptions at the end of June 2013, accounting for nearly 47 per cent of all fixed broadband subscriptions.

Broadband subscriptions with a connection speed of 10Mbps but less than 30Mbps accounted for 69.3 per cent of all subscriptions, while those with a connection speed of 30Mbps but less than 100Mbps accounted for 11 per cent. DSL technology retained its position as the most popular broadband platform, accounting for almost 49 per cent of all subscriptions at the end of June 2013. Meanwhile, the cable platform came close and accounted for 48.1 per cent of all subscriptions while the fixed wireless platform (WiMax) accounted for the remaining share, at 3 per cent of the total.

Another notable change in the period under review relates to the provision of voice telephony services. The report notes that the market outcomes were driven by a growing consumer preference for mobile-based services. In this regard, fixed line telephony has seen strong substitution by mobile, as clearly underlined by usage trends for the first six months of this year. This shift has been mainly driven by the narrowing gap between fixed and mobile call rates.

One sector where growth seems to have slowed down is the pay TV market, where only marginal growth was registered. In fact, the number of pay TV subscriptions – at 149,049 at the end of June 2013 – was up by just 0.4 per cent from a year earlier.

The share of total pay TV subscriptions on the analogue cable and digital cable platforms stood at 5.3 per cent and 49.4 per cent respectively at the end of the current reporting period. Meanwhile, the digital terrestrial TV (DTTV) and Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) platforms accounted for 42.0 per cent and 3.3 per cent of total pay TV subscriptions respectively. The MCA’s report also covers postal services, this year experiencing full liberalisation. Letter post services continue to decline.

“The principal causes behind this development were the digitisation of communication and e-substitution, although more recent market trends may suggest that e-substitution is becoming less prominent over time as the remaining postal customer base is more ‘paper’ loyal and thus less likely to shift demand away from traditional postal services.

Also of significant relevance with regard to postal volumes is the contribution of the parcel business, show significant growth in line with the increasing popularity of online shopping,” the MCA’s communication market review concludes.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.