Mobile Telephony and Fixed Broadband amongst the highest performing communications sectors during the first half of 2016
The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) is committed to provide regular updates on the main developments in the electronic communications and postal sectors in Malta.
To this effect, this press briefing draws on the findings of the Communications Market Review (CMR) published by the MCA, covering the period January to June 2016.
The CMR is published on a bi-annual basis and highlights trends observed over the last few years and latest market outcomes in the afore-mentioned sectors. All CMR publications can be viewed on the MCA’s website at www.mca.org.mt.
Electronic communications: January to June 2016
The demand for various electronic communication services, specifically fixed broadband, mobile telephony and fixed telephony continued to go from strength to strength during the first six months of this year. Consumers are also increasingly tending towards bundled packages, particularly triple play bundles, rather than stand-alone products in view of the fact that bundled prices are more advantageous than the sum of stand-alone prices. Of note is that 75% of all fixed broadband subscriptions recorded at the end of last June formed part of a bundle, which represents a six percentage point rise in 12 months.
Mobile telephony
The mobile telephony sector continues to exhibit a solid performance, with subscriptions and voice traffic volumes continuously on the increase. Mobile subscriptions increased by 2% over a 12-month period ending last June, which translates to an increase of 10,371 subscriptions. A look at developments by type of subscription during this period shows that the number of post-paid subscriptions increased by 19,700 compared to a drop of around 9,300 pre-paid subscriptions. In terms of usage, the number of mobile calls made dipped by a light 0.5%. However, on the positive side, consumers are in fact spending more time on their calls, with minutes increasing by 4% to reach 394.7 million reported in the first half of this year. This in contrast an 11.3% decline in the number of SMSs. Improved minute allowances and falling average rates per minute of communication could potentially explain the drive towards this growing trend.
The usage of mobile data services in the first six months of this year also continued to grow when compared to the same period in 2015. In fact, the number of end-users actively using mobile broadband services was up by around 14,000 (or by 5.1%) between June 2015 and June 2016. This increase comes on the back of a rapid uptake of smart-phones, tablet computers and laptops, especially as local service providers continue offering such devices at discounted prices in combination with mobile telephony plans.
Post
Postal mail volumes recorded in the first half of this year were slightly down when compared to those recorded a year earlier, from 18.8 million to 18.7 million, in line with long-term market trends. Notwithstanding the overall decline, parcel mail volumes and registered mail volumes were stronger in the first half of 2016 than in the same period of 2015. Registered mail was up by 18% whilst parcel mail was up by 10%. These increases are mainly attributable to an ever more buoyant eCommerce activity. Meanwhile, standard mail volumes, which primarily consist of letter mail items and bulk mail items, and which account to almost 95% all mail activity recorded in the current review period, were down by 0.2 million (or by 1.4%) from almost 18.0 million to 17.7 million.
Full details of the main market outcomes for the electronic communications and postal sectors are presented in the latest CMR publication, which is found on the MCA website at http://mca.org.mt/articles/communications-market-review-january-june-2016.