Internet broadband subscriptions grew by 5.5 per cent reaching 148,411 in this year's second quarter.

The National Statistics Office said high speed internet connections exceeding 10Mbps advanced by 18.1 per cent, reaching 136,068.

In contrast, internet subscriptions with speeds ranging from 2 to 10Mbps
decreased by 51.5 per cent.

The internet subscription index as at the end of the second quarter stood at 159.5 per cent, increasing by 5.5 percentage points when compared with 2013 levels.

Television subscriptions totalled 149,158 and remained at par with last year’s levels.

Digital subscriptions continued to dominate the market while analogue subscriptions dropped by 9.5 per cent when compared to the same quarter in 2013.

The number of fixed telephone subscriptions as at the end of June reached 232,469, increasing by 1.1 per cent over 2013. Total fixed originating minutes to national networks dropped by 6.5 per cent, while minutes towards international networks decreased by 10.9 per cent.

Local originating mobile traffic increased by 11.7 per cent. The number of SMS’s sent while roaming decreased by 9.2 per cent.

Total postal traffic decreased by 1.4 per cent and stood at over 10 million items.

Items received and dispatched by couriers totalled 179,944, an increase of 8.4 per cent over the previous year.