Across Western countries, text messages have been rapidly replacing voice calls as the dominant mode of mobile communication – particularly among young people.
A 2015 Pew Research Centre study found that mobile users were texting nearly twice as often as they used voice or video calls.
In Malta, however, a different trend seems to be unfolding. According to new statistics from the Malta Communications Authority, the number of mobile calls increased by five per cent during 2015 – more than 24,500 additional calls every day.
Meanwhile, the number of text messages dropped by 7.5 per cent, such that the total number of messages sent was actually below the total number of calls. The amount of time people spent on the phone also increased dramatically, with users consuming an additional 62,637 minutes per day.
Number of text messages sent is below total number of calls
What is driving this shift? Industry analysts who spoke to the Times of Malta said the dip in texting was down to the popularity of data messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which were seen as straight substitutes.
The seemingly counter-current rise in calls, meanwhile, was linked to the increased number of customers opting for post-paid plans – which rose by 10 per cent last year – many of them offering unlimited calls and generous data allowances.
“One of the main reasons people used to opt for text messages was the cost benefit, which is less relevant today,” one analyst said. “It’s true that there’s been a shift towards text messaging in most Western markets, but in Malta, the trend towards post-paid plans is balancing that at the moment.”
A Melita spokesman said lowering the price of unlimited cross-network call plans became possible after the communications authority reduced the cost of interconnection fees between operators for call termination rates.
“Customers migrated towards data messaging services and voice calls as soon as they realised that it is far cheaper to call or use data messaging services than to SMS,” the spokesman said.
Those more prone to nostalgia may be heartened to see voice calls, generally seen as more intimate, withstanding the threat of digital messaging.
The same is not true outside the mobile world, however, where the MCA reported a drop of 1.5 per cent in fixed subscriptions. With a drop of two million calls and six million minutes in the last three months of the year, the days of chatting on landlines appear to be in terminal decline.