The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) has revealed that the number of mobile subscribers in the country dropped by 2.0% in 2014 to 546,214. A slight rise in the number of contract customers was outweighed by a fall in pre-paid users. Usage on the country’s networks is on the up, however, with call minutes per subscription rising from 611 minutes in the second half of 2013 to 667 minutes in the last six months of 2014. Vodafone remains the largest mobile operator, though its market share continues to decline, dropping from 47.49% at end-2013 to 44.28% a year later. GO Mobile took second place at end-2014, with 39.08% of all subscribers, up from 36.92% at the start of the year, while third-placed Melita Mobile took a 14.78% share (up from 13.69%).
In the fixed broadband market, Melita and GO are still neck-and-neck in terms of subscriptions, with Melita taking 49.88% of the country’s 151,543 users at end-2014 and GO claiming 48.49%. The number of fixed voice lines in service fell 0.4% to 230,361, with GO having 66.29% of lines and Melita claiming 33.07%.