28 Jun 2011Malta Broadband Overview

The telecommunications market in Malta is characterized by a very small selection of service providers. The liberalisation of the fixed telephony market was formally completed by the end of 2002. Despite this process, the incumbent - Maltacom - has retained its strong hold on the telecoms market overall. In June 2007, Maltacom announced that in line with its ongoing rebranding exercise, the Maltacom Group will operate under the new brand name GO. The registered name of the company remains Maltacom plc.

The year 2007 marked a number of key events for Malta’s Internet sector. The number of broadband Internet subscribers surpassed that of narrowband (dial-up) subscribers. In June 2007, Vodafone Malta was the first licencee to launch WiMAX services on the island. GO Mobile and Cellcom also aimed for a 2007 launch. However, fast mobile broadband over HSDPA or 3.5G mobile technology proved an instance hit with Internet users when launched in 2007. It provided customers with a cost-effective alternative to fixed-line based ADSL and cable Internet. However, its popularity jeopardized the success of WiMAX services, and GO mobile lagged behind with the roll-out of its own WiMAX offering which was launched on 15 June 2009. The 3.5 GHz frequency licence required GO Mobile to complete network roll-out and to provide 99 per cent nationwide coverage by October 2009. GO reached this target within the allotted time.