Information technology outlets are being inundated by complaints from customers who say they can’t use their new internet TV devices such as android or IPTV boxes.
However, shop owners who spoke to the Times of Malta said the problem was not the devices but low internet speeds.
“We have been complaining for far too long that clients are not getting the bandwidth they are paying for,” the director of an IT shop in Qormi said.
“Now we can prove it, as the internet TV devices we are selling are not working properly due to low bandwidth.”
Some internet users said they had been experiencing a steady decline in internet speed during peak hours, at around 7.30pm.
“The streaming of videos is taking a considerable time to buffer – a clear sign of low internet speed,” a 17-year-old from Msida said.
Another user said he had contacted the dealer from which he bought the android box ‘who immediately told me that many were complaining about internet speeds’
Another user said that to be certain, he had contacted the dealer from which he bought the android box “who immediately told me that many users were complaining about their internet speeds”.
A shop owner from Cospicua also confirmed there was a problem with internet speeds.
Both Go and Melita, Malta’s main internet service providers, also offer TV services with which new television streaming technologies, such as the android box, are in direct competition.
Bandwidth throttling, which is the intentional slowing of internet speeds by an ISP, is illegal.
Many of those who spoke to this newspaper indicated that the main problems were being seen on Melita’s internet service. The company yesterday categorically denied any bandwidth throttling.
Melita also said: “When watching video content over the internet such as series, movies or live events, customers should seek to consume official and licensed sources which provide greater reliability and quality of service.
“Services and devices such as unlicensed and unregulated streaming devices or similar unlicensed video streaming sites may not provide the quality, reliability and security clients may expect.” The claims relating to slow internet speeds follow a report issued by the European Commission last month showing that Maltese consumers are getting the most expensive and the least efficient broadband deals in the EU.
According to Brussels, there is little difference between the offers on the local market, where “the cheapest stand-alone [internet only] service in Malta is nearly triple the EU average”.
With regard to speed, the report said that the actual download speed of cable technology during peak periods in the EU is 63.5 Mbps, while in Malta it is less than half, standing at 30.3Mbps.
Both Go and Melita have rejected the EU’s findings. But Aldo Calleja, managing director of internet company Waldonet Ltd, pointed out that while the price of internet in Malta in 2008 stood at €13.86 a month at entry level, both Melita and Go were now selling the same product at much higher prices. Mr Calleja said the only difference is that the two companies are now bundling internet with a fixed line telephony service.
“At present we find that Melita no longer offers a broadband only package but has upped its price of entry level broadband to €23.50 with a bundled fixed phone-line and a two-year contract,” Mr Calleja said.
“Due to this change, Go has no pressure to offer broadband without a phone line and continued to demand that a phone-line be included together with an entry level package at the price of €20 per month.”
According to Mr Calleja, this means a Maltese consumer can only start using a fixed broadband service for a minimum of €20 per month, which is 44 per cent more expensive than one would have paid in 2008.