New technology continues to take its toll on the telecommunications sector, with a sharp drop in text messages over the first six months of the year and the number of television subscribers also dropping.

The Malta Communications Authority, in its market review for January to June 2016, gave a run-down of the four telecommunications sectors – mobile, fixed line, fixed broadband and TV – as well as the postal sector.

More people are taking up mobile subscriptions, bringing the number of subscriptions to over half a million, a penetration rate of over 130 per cent.

However, while the number of calls made is fairly flat, consumers are spending longer on each call, which means that the overall number of minutes for calls went up by four per cent, to 394.7 million.

Another noticeable trend over the years has been the sharp drop in the number of text messages: from a peak of 169 million at the end of 2012 to 102 million by June 2016. That is still an impressive 360 per user every six months.

The rapid uptake of smartphones, laptops and tablets has also had an impact on mobile data, which continues to drive up the amount spent on mobile use, from €80.97 in the first half of 2012 to €87.19 this year.

Streaming has started to whittle away at TV subscriptions

Although more people are accessing broadband via their mobile, this has not had an impact on the equally insatiable demand for fixed broadband. Apart from the rise in subscriptions, we are also demanding faster download speeds, with almost 60 per cent of us opting for speeds of 30Mbps or higher. Interestingly enough, even though the average cost per Mbit has fallen by 29 per cent year-on-year, we are still spending more as our usage increases, with average spending at €95.75.

The streaming phenomenon has started to whittle away at TV subscriptions, which decreased marginally.

The postal section has also seen volumes decline as alternative technology replaces snail mail: the number of mail items has been dropping from a high of 21.2 million in 2013 to just 18.7 million in the first half of this year.

The number of text messages sent has dropped sharply. Photo: Shutterstock

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