The number of mobile telephone subscriptions in the second quarter this year reached 405,465, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that subscriptions to post-paid schemes were recorded at 74,696, while pre-paid scheme subscriptions stood at 330,769.

Therefore, as at the end of June, the mobile penetration rate per 100 persons in the population stood at 97.7 percent.

Both local originating mobile traffic and outbound roaming experienced an increase compared to the corresponding period in 2008.

On the other hand, a decrease was registered in the number of SMSs and MMSs sent.

The fixed-telephone subscription index increased by 10.6 percent from 113.3 in the same period last year to 125.3 in the comparable quarter this year.

Total fixed originating minutes to the national network amounted to around 169.2 million.

Around 15.4 million minutes were consumed towards an international network.

The internet subscription index rose by 11.7 percent from 132 as at the end of June last year to 147.4 as at the end of the equivalent quarter this year.

Out of every 100 persons, 26 had an internet subscription.

While the number of active narrowband (dial-up) subscriptions decreased by 67.9 percent, the number of broadband users increased by 12 percent when compared to the same period last year.

At the end of June, 88.9 percent of broadband subscribers had a connection speed of more than or equal to 144 kbps, but less than 10 Mbps.

Pay TV subscriptions index increased by 10.1 percent.

Analogue and digital television subscriptions were recorded at 96.9 percent of households. Digital subscriptions amounted to 68.7 percent of the overall subscriptions.

Total postal traffic for the second quarter amounted to around 10.8 million items, of which the absolute bulk represented letters and other printed items. Courier traffic totalled 71,535 items, of which 45.9 percent were letters or documents, and the rest parcels.