Switching works on Melita's new €10 million submarine fibre optic cable between Malta and Sicily have been completed and all data traffic has now been transferred to it, the company said.

"This is yet another milestone for Melita. It represents another building block in our strategic development programme to strengthen our network and technical infrastructure in preparation for future bandwidth hungry applications across our television, internet, fixed line telephony and mobile services," said Malcolm Briffa, Melita's Head of Marketing.

Melita also announced it is introducing new super fast internet speeds in the Maltese Islands. Speed of up to 50Mbits is being made available for the first time in Malta and Gozo and the minimum entry speed on Melita's internet platform has been upgraded from 2Mbits to 5Mbits.

"We consider this major upgrade as our second revolution in the local broadband internet market as customers are now able to experience unprecedented speeds of broadband internet, Mr Briffa said.

Melita now has packages of five,10, 20 and 50Mbits.

It is also offering new broadband internet subscribers free upgrades.

All existing customers on the M package will receive free upgrades: from 2Mbits to 5Mbits and those on super fast connections will receive a free upgrade from 30Mbits to 50Mbits.

The latest MCA market review has re-confirmed Melita as the leading broadband internet service provider in Malta and Gozo with a 52% market share and over 52,000 families and businesses connected to the network.