Ms Macdonald has worked in journalism and communications for almost 25 years, most recently as the editor of a business newspaper. Her duty will be to lead various functions like publishing, public relations, event management, social outreach and media relations.

As such, the central bank expects her combination of experience with the media and economic affairs to play an important role as the CBM seeks to intensify its engagement with all stakeholders over the coming years.

The post CBM names new communications coordinator first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Forming part of the Cathay Group that is present in 85 countries, Cathay Communication expects to now provide worldwide management of communication campaigns apart from professional on-the-ground counselling on legal issues, taxation, business conduct and the protection of intellectual rights, the press statement says.

Logix Creative Ltd is a boutique branding agency established in 1995 for offering a variety of creative services for brands across all media.

“The main strength of the ‘global-local’ operational model is that we have local partners on board that have in-depth market-knowledge with established connections and relevant expertise in every country,” commented Rupert Várnai, Cofounder of Cathay Communication.

“We are very excited to be part of this fast-growing global network and look forward to utilising our expertise to create business opportunities for Maltese and Chinese business exchange in our region and beyond,” explained Pierre Mizzi, Managing Director of Logix Creative Ltd.

The post Cathay appoints Logix as Maltese representative first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“At GO, we believe that the only way to future proof Malta and to be able to handle the phenomenal growth in data, is to invest in a state-of-the-art, fibre-to-the-home network. Simply put, a fibre network delivers data to you at the speed of light. There is nothing faster in science today. GO is the only company in Malta that delivers a true fibre network right up to your living room,” said Nikhil Patil, CEO of GO Plc, when announcing the investment.

Currently more than 85,000 homes in Malta are equipped with true-fibre technology. “We are working around the clock to expedite the rollout of true fibre so that every house and business can benefit from the best technology on the market. We expect at least 100,000 homes, the equivalent of approximately 50% of Malta and Gozo, to be covered by the end of 2019, with full nationwide coverage by 2024,” the CEO added.

“Communications services are the backbone of today’s thriving economy. They underpin every sector, every industry,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said when the investment was announced. “Our vision can only be attained if all stakeholders pull the same rope and harness every opportunity to push Malta forward. GO has a long-standing history in its contribution to Malta’s economy. Not only has GO taken these opportunities, but it is now creating opportunities for further growth,” the prime minister added

The post GO to invest €100m in Malta’s digital infrastructure first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Starting as of 15 May 2019, “any retail price, excluding value-added tax (VAT), charged to consumers for regulated intra-EU communications shall not exceed €0.19 per minute for calls and €0.06 per SMS message,” the MCA reports. The new rules on retail price caps for intra-EU communications — fixed and mobile calls and SMS — are introduced by the amended EU Regulation 2015/2120.

The regulation does not restrict operators to apply per second billing. However, as the price caps are expressed per minute, it is considered that charging intervals cannot exceed 60 seconds, according to the MCA press statement.

The regulation applies to all EU member states including the outermost regions, which are part of the EU single market. For calls originating in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein the regulation would be applicable as soon as the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement incorporates the terms.

Providers in addition to the regulated tariff may offer alternative charges covering non-EEA — i.e. third countries including intra-EU communications where the prices of intra-EU connections may exceed the caps, according to the MCA.

Ensuring consistent application of the regulation, BEREC published guidelines, laying down criteria for National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) to take into account. The instructions include general provisions, as well as specific rules where BEREC defines procedure and parameters to assess the sustainability of these provisions. The regulation covers only consumption based intra-EU communications services offered to consumers.

See the official video by BEREC below, explaining what the changes mean in practice.

The post EU comm charges to receive cap, BEREC posts guidelines first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The fixed broadband segment saw a year-on-year 6% rise in the number of subscriptions by the end of June 2018, with fast and ultra-fast connections speeding up by 26 percentage points to almost 72% of all fixed broadband subscriptions, MCA figures reveal. “The surge in demand for products supporting fast and ultra-fast download speeds underlines growth in the fixed broadband segment,” the MCA explains.

Bundle subscriptions dominated the market taking up 86% share of fixed broadband subscriptions by the end of June 2018. Over 86% of fixed broadband subscriptions were in a bundle at the end of the first half. Fixed broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) also shifted upwards as a result of several developments, including the steady rise in entry-level access fees and the increased demand for high-quality video content, according to the MCA. However, subscribers paid less per Mbit of download in H1 2018 than during the same period a year earlier.

Mobile world speaks up

Mobile subscriptions reached an outstanding 615,423 by the end of June 2018, a year-on-year growth of 2.4%. For a point of reference, the estimated total population of Malta and Gozo at the end of 2017 stood at 475,701, up by 3.3% when compared to 2016, according to statistics published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) of Malta in July 2018.

The contract segment saw a particularly robust take-up; the mobile subscriber base reached 35.4% by the end of June 2018. “This change reflects improved allowances with post-paid plans, which generally include bigger data caps and unlimited calls,” the MCA says.

Figures of the authority, however, show that end users are moving away from sending messages in their traditional sense (SMS) and fixed voice calling, as mobile data consumption is on the growth. Mobile data usage on a per user level jumped by 23.5% from an average of 5.1GB in the first half of 2017 to an average of 6.3GB in the first half of 2018, MCA says.

Bundles keep landlines and television alive

Fixed telephone subscriptions also registered an increase of more than 8,800 signups in the first half of 2018 over the same period of 2017. However, almost 70% of all the subscriptions occurred in the framework of bundle packages, and the actual usage of those lines are on a downslide as users move toward mobile services.

“The increase in fixed telephony subscriptions comes in the wake of operators’ generally incorporating fixed telephony services with all bundle packages. Despite the increased take-up, usage for this service continues to dwindle as end users switch to mobile telephony. In fact, during one year voice calls dropped by 7.0% and 5.5% respectively,” the MCA says.

The same tendency applies to the television sector. Although subscriptions were up by 9,326 to 161,697 by the end of the examined period, the MCA explains the growth with TV services becoming the part of bundles, similarly to landline phones. “Despite the increased take-up of this service, the ARPU for this segment continued to decline,” the MCA report says.

The full market review of the MCA is available for download at their official website.

The post Telco subscriber numbers grow in H1 2018 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.