Mobile telephony subscriptions up 2.7% since end June 2014

Data published by the Malta Communications Authority shows that the number of mobile telephony subscriptions totalled 562,978 by the end of June 2015, which marks a 2.7% increase compared to the end of June 2014. 

According to statistics the number of post-paid subscriptions was up by 13,998 (11.1%) and the number of pre-paid subscriptions was up by 830 (0.2%) at the same time.

Mobile traffic volumes were also stronger than recorded in the same period of 2014 with the number of mobile voice calls up by almost 8 million (6.1%) and the number of mobile voice call minutes up by 20.6 million (11.4%).

Data showed that the number of SMSs sent was down by 13.7 million (10.6%) in the second quarter of 2015 when compared to the same period of 2014.

MCA added that on a per user level, the average number of mobile voice calls went up from 243 in the second quarter of 2014 to 224 in the second quarter of 2015 and that the number of mobile voice call minutes went up from 335 to 362, while the average number of SMSs was down to 206 from 238.

“The number of fixed telephony subscriptions, on the other hand, totalled 228,991 by end June 2015, down 1.5% compared to the end of June 2014,” the MCA statement reads, adding that during this period, the number of post-paid subscriptions was up by 233 (0.1%) whilst the number of pre-paid subscriptions was down by 3,701 (17.2%).

Statistics show that the volume of originating fixed line calls and minutes in the second quarter of 2015 was lower than that recorded in the same period a year earlier and that the number of fixed line voice calls was down by 7.5% while the number of fixed line voice call minutes was down by 6.8%.

It added that on a per user level, the average number of fixed line voice calls fell from 183 in the second quarter of 2014 to 170 in the second quarter of 2015 while the average number of fixed line voice call minutes was also down, from 630 to 591.

Data showed that the number of fixed broadband subscriptions was up by 6,729 (4.5%) in this same period bringing totals from 148,175 at the end of June 2014 to 154,904 at the end of June 2015.

According to the MCA, the number of internet subscriptions with download speeds lower than 30Mbps was down by 15.8%, from 77,564 at the end of June 2014 to 65,330 at the end of June this year.  

“This decline,” MCA said, “was outweighed by increases recorded in terms of the number of fixed broadband subscriptions supporting fast and ultra fast download speeds.”

“The number of fixed broadband subscriptions with download speeds of 30Mbps but less than 100Mbps was up by 26.6%, from 69,594 at the end of June 2014 to 88,079 at the end of June 2015.”

MCA added that the number of pay TV subscriptions at the end of June 2015 was down 927 (0.6%) when compared to the end of June 2014.

Statistics showed that the number of analogue pay TV subscriptions was down by 671 (9.3%), from 7,208 at the end of June 2014 to 6,537 at the end of June 2015.

“The number of digital Pay TV subscriptions was down by 256 (0.2%), from 141,950 at the end of June 2014 to 141,694 at the end of June 2015.”

The statement read that there are three types of digital pay TV packages commercially available; digital cable packages, digital terrestrial (DTTV) packages and Internet protocol (IPTV) packages.

According to data, the number of pay TV subscriptions on digital cable was down by 1,160 (1.6%), with totals going from 72,757 at the end of June 2014 to 71,597 at the end of June 2015.

The number of DTTV subscriptions, on the other hand was down by 5,317 (8.9%), with totals changing from 59,904 at the end of June 2014 to 54,587 at the end of June 2015.

“On the other hand, the number of IPTV subscriptions was up by 6,221 (almost 67%), reaching 15,510 from 9,289 at the end of June 2014.

According to data, the number of postal mail items that were delivered in the second quarter of 2015 was down by 911,808 (8.9%) when compared to the number of postal mail items that were delivered in the second quarter of 2014.

“The number of standard letter mail items delivered in the second quarter of 2015 was down by 191,386 (5.3%) when compared to the same period in 2014.”

The MCA added that the number of bulk mail items was also down, in this case by 736,858 (6.7%), from 6.3 million mail items in the second quarter of 2014 to 5.5 million mail items in the second quarter of this year.

According to statistics, another drop in mail volumes was recorded in terms of registered mail with the number of registered mail items delivered in the second quarter of 2015 totalling 311,985, down by 1,421 (almost 0.5%) when compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. Parcel mail volumes in the second quarter of 2015, on the other hand were up by 17,857 (19.1%) when compared to parcel mail volumes recorded in the second quarter of 2014.