Investment, sustainable competition, innovation and a progressive regulatory framework are key ingredients for a thriving, cutting-edge communications sector. We can safely say that developments in this regard in the past year have certainly secured Malta’s place among the front-runners in an increasingly competitive, knowledge-based European environment.

The communications sector is at the very heart of a true digital economy and fundamental for continued social and economic growth. It is for this reason that every effort is undertaken to ensure that the regulatory framework adequately reflects technological developments and continues to incentivise investment and innovation.

It is only through continued investment by local industry players that our citizens can continue to enjoy innovative products and services at the right price.

In fact, significant sectoral developments during the past year have taken an already vibrant communications sector to the next level. Today, Malta has 100 per cent coverage of two fixed networks capable of delivering connections of a minimum of 30 Mbps to all households.

This is a target the EU set for all member states and which Malta has achieved ahead of the 2015 deadline. Indeed, Malta has one of the highest availability rates of very high speed broadband services in the EU, with speeds of at least 100 Mbps available to all households.

In terms of usage, the figures speak for themselves. In the first nine months of 2013, almost 354 million mobile calls were made, equivalent to 1.3 million calls per day. A staggering 1.8 million minutes per day were spent on mobile telephony, while 1.63 million SMSs were sent per day – that is 1,137 SMSs per minute.

While figures for fixed telephony are lower at around half a million calls per day, the amount of time spent is still significant at just over 1.6 million minutes per day, proving traditional telephony is still in high demand. Despite the already high penetration rate, fixed broadband subscribers also continued to rise to reach 143,659 subscriptions.

Undoubtedly, these figures augur well for a truly connected future. Through the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), we have spearheaded a number of initiatives aimed at not only ensuring that technology is, in fact, available but also focused on ensuring increased accessibility. In this regard, the MCA continued the roll-out of 180 free Wi-Fi hotspots.

A lot of effort is also put into ensuring that everyone, whatever age or level of education, has the necessary skills to make use of these technologies. On this note, training initiatives implemented by the MCA continued in full force.

By the end of 2013, 900 individuals over the age of 65 were trained in basic ICT skills as part of a dedicated programme targeted at this age group. €450,000 in structural funds were also secured to train a further 3,500 adults, over the age of 25 years, in the use of the internet in day-to-day activities as well as at the workplace.

By building and improving their technical capabilities, these individuals have an improved chance of better employment in higher-quality jobs. Also recognising ICT skills as an important entrepreneurial tool in business, 133 individuals, who are either self-employed, employed with or own a microenterprise or from a small and medium-sized enterprise, were certified after successfully completing an intensive training programme leading to certification, as part of the Epitome project.


1.63 million

SMSs were sent per day


Two distinct – but very closely related – sectors are the postal services sector and eCommerce. eCommerce has unquestionably opened up a whole new world of opportunities for local business. At the same time, local consumers are enjoying the benefits of increased choice and value for money from the comfort of their homes.

Today, 68 per cent of Maltese internet users are buying online. One can safely anticipate that this number will continue to increase, having a positive impact on parcel mail volumes, which have been on the rise year-on-year.

This year is proving to be equally as promising. The MCA has carried out a preliminary study on the benefits, challenges, economic drivers and competitiveness factors for establishing Malta as a world-class hub for the provision of cloud computing services, boosting innovation and productivity across the digital economy.

The study outlines the government’s key role in creating the right environment for cloud services and establishing synergies between telecom operators and cloud computing service providers. The MCA will also be setting up a high-level working committee to establish a roadmap for a pro-innovative framework (security and legal, fiscal, standards and certification) to become a leader in cloud computing.

In the next few days, we shall also be launching the National Digital Malta Strategy, a joint effort between the MCA and MITA. This strategy identifies a number of initiatives that will be implemented between 2014 and 2020.

This is another step forward in recognising this government’s commitment to the development of a thriving digital economy where businesses can flourish and consumers continue to enjoy high quality, innovative technologies at a fair price.

Edward Zammit Lewis is Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth.

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