The latest Digital Agenda Scoreboard once again ranks Malta first, among the 28 EU member states, in next generation broadband network coverage.

Malta also climbed two places, ranking ninth overall, from 11th in 2013, in the connectivity segment of this report, which assesses the deployment of broadband infrastructure and its quality.

The scoreboard, which is published by the European Commission on an annual basis, measures the progress of the European Digital Economy in the previous calendar year.

Malta’s success in these areas is further pronounced when comparing Malta’s performance against the EU average. While network coverage for both fixed broadband and Next Generation Access (NGA) networks – networks capable of providing broadband download speeds of 30 Mbps or more – stands at 100 per cent in both cases, the EU average stands at 97 per cent for fixed broadband and 68 per cent for NGA network roll-out.

Malta also made significant progress in terms of subscriptions to high-speed broadband services. In just one year, the number of Maltese households subscribed to broadband speeds of 30 Mbps or more increased by 41 percentage points to reach 55 per cent in 2014, up from 14 per cent in 2013 and a mere 2 per cent in 2012.

“Investment by local operators is certainly leaving its mark and continuous effort in rolling-out high quality, value-for-money products and services is bearing fruit,” said Malta Communications Authority chairman Edward Woods.

Coverage of LTE (4G mobile) technology, launched in late 2013, extends over more than two thirds of the islands, compared with the EU average of 79 per cent. This coverage is expected to increase considerably by the end of year, following continued investment by local operators.

Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth José Herrera said: “The progress is a clear sign that Malta is on the right track to reach the digital agenda targets in the stipulated timeframes.”