Under the partnership, Enel Energia’s domestic customers will be able to add Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) to their existing electricity and gas services, providing a download connection of up to 1 Gigabit per second and an upload speed of up to 300 Megabit per second.

“A high-speed internet connection enables customers to fully benefit from innovations in smart home technology and the digitisation of the energy sector,” said Nicola Lanzetta, Enel’s Head of Market Italy. “Thanks to this collaboration with Melita Italia, which has significant experience in the telecommunications sector, we will provide customers with a third commodity that is becoming central to our daily lives,” Mr Lanzetta added.

“This is a very positive agreement for Melita, which allows us to combine our offer, exclusively in fibre internet with the light and gas services of the main Italian provider,” said Riccardo Ruggiero, Executive President of Melita Italia. “This partnership can also be a stimulus for the further development of FTTH technology in Italy, which today is constantly growing but not yet in line with other European countries,” he added.

“Melita Italia has brought a new level of innovation to the Italian broadband market, combining Gigabit broadband internet with mesh WiFi technology to ensure the best in-home experience. Our new partnership will allow us to effectively market Melita Italia products to Enel Energia’s customers in Italy,” said Harald Roesch, CEO at Melita Limited, the mother company of Melita Italia.

The post Enel Energia, Melita Italia team up on fibre internet first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“Back in December of last year, Malta spearheaded an initiative that brought on board Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, where together we agreed to promote and work further in the blockchain and DLT sphere, share our expertise and knowledge, and most importantly enhance further our cooperation in this new emergent industry,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri.

“The signing of that declaration was clear evidence of a sense of acknowledgement of this emergent industry. Today’s initiative of a memorandum of understanding takes us a step further, it marks our commitment, as the seven EU member states, to establish a framework for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of DLT at a governmental level. This framework will help us as a region, to achieve the maximum potential of such technologies and enable us to enhance the daily lives of our citizens,” the junior minister added, tagging the MoU as a “historic milestone”.

Under the agreement, Malta, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus commit to exploring the possibility to cooperate on cross-border distributed ledger technologies projects and to share best practices in the application of distributed ledger technologies, according to the DOI press release. The MoU has established a framework for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of distributed ledger technologies at a governmental level between the countries.

The post Malta signs MoU on DLT cooperation with six EU countries first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

With six studios all around the world, from Los Angeles to Beijing, Mr Pullicino says that Stargate blends all the available production technologies into one fully-integrated and high-tech production and editorial service.

Founded in 1989, the company can count on a number of artists, supervisors and producers who work on digital production and visual effects. Stargate Studios Malta is the only Europe-based studio of the group. It was established in 2012 when Sam Nicholson teamed up with a Maltese company, formerly known as The Bigger Picture, headed by Matthew Pullicino and David Serge. Stargate Studios Malta now has a team of 30, working in production and on visual effects. It has recently moved its offices to Techno Park in Mosta.

“The situation here in Malta is always developing. We are all enthusiastic about this studio based here in Malta.”

“Although business here in Malta is always progressing, we do not work for productions being serviced locally. We collaborate with European producers based in cities such as Rome, Germany and Madrid, which means that we travel around and connect directly with our clients overseas,” Mr Pullicino tells Business Malta.

Stargate Studios Malta has supplied high-end visual effects to shows like “Medici – Masters of Florence”, “American Gods”, “Pietro Mennea – La freccia Del Sud”, “El Principe”, “You Me and the Apocalypse” and many more. Mr Pullicino notes that this thriving studio at the heart of the Mediterranean has geared itself to bring an effective and successful American workflow to European markets.

In addition, the cash rebate by the Malta Film Commission is a significant factor in helping the island become a viable option for quality post-production. The Malta Film Commission offers financial incentives to audiovisual productions which are shot in the island nation. These incentives are in the form of a cash rebate of up to 40% of costs incurred on the island.

“The situation here in Malta is always developing. We are all enthusiastic about this studio based here in Malta,” says Mr Pullicino. Nevertheless, the playing field of the audiovisual industry nowadays has become highly global, moving beyond the boundaries of local markets. Producers want to create stunning visual content in foreign languages, especially in the case of Europe. For instance, LuxVide, one of Stargate Studios Malta’s Italian clients, has recently invested in creating television content in English, while the whole work takes place in Italy with an Italian crew.

“We want our clients to know that Stargate Studios Malta is able to guarantee a high level of product which fits these new projects run by European film companies. We offer the quality that is generally found in US television projects at a competitive European price-point,” the CEO adds.

Mr Pullicino, however, notes that recruitment is a major issue at the moment, as finding the right talent is challenging due to a very limited talent pool in Malta. “Stargate Studios Malta is looking into ways of helping nurture local talent,” he emphasises.

The global reel of Stargate Studios for 2018 below shows some of the productions the company has been involved in recently.

The post Stargate Studios Malta produces visual effects globally first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Assogasliquidi is an Italian association representing companies in the distribution of liquefied gases (LPG and LNG) and companies that build equipment and facilities or provide services related to the sector.

The association is based in Rome and its objective is the representation of over 100 companies in the sector at both national and international level. 

The previous Assogasliquidi president was Dr Francesco Franchi, who has decided to leave the position prior to his new corporate commitments. 

The post Italian Assogasliquidi names ad interim president first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Volotea will be operating a weekly service to each one of the two cities during the summer months, with the flight to Verona being offered on Tuesdays and the flight to Genoa being a mid-week one.

Despite the fact that both cities are found in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula and are only a three-hour train ride away from each other, their offering is quite different and is likely to capture the imagination of different holidaymakers, the MIA press statement says.

The post Volotea launches flights from Malta to Verona and Genoa first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Diamond Fibra will initially be available in eight cities across Italy; Milan, Turin, Monza, Florence, Naples, Bari, Palermo, and Catania, the press statement says.

“Led by Ricardo Ruggiero, the launch of Melita Italia and Diamond Fibra blends our internet experience and customer focus with super-fast internet from the Open Fiber network and Plume’s intelligent smart home services to deliver a new level of service to Italian consumers. By delivering the fastest, most reliable and most secure internet experience on any device, Diamond Fibra is a perfect starting point for Melita Italia’s growth journey,” said Harald Roesch, CEO of Melita Ltd.

“Melita has just created the world’s first ‘modern triple play’ offering — unified and managed connectivity over fast fibre and reliable whole-home Wi-Fi, personalised parental controls & guest access, and tightly secured & protected devices. As Melita raises the bar in Italy with an unprecedented service bundle and customer experience, Plume is honoured to be partnering with such a pioneer,” Fahri Diner, Co-founder and CEO of Plume, said.

The post Melita Italia rolls out fibre services with Plume, Open Fiber first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The agreement represents the expansion of Newgioco’s distribution footprint in regulated stores and establishments such as bars, coffee shops, convenience stores, betting shops and other route operations throughout southern Italy and Sicily.

“Once again our team in Europe lead by Alessandro Marcelli, boosted by the recent addition of Angelo Merola, a highly respected name throughout the regulated Italian gaming industry, have proven the value of incorporating our ELYS™ betting Platform by Odissea in the highly contested and vibrant Italian sports betting market,” commented Newgioco CEO Michele Ciavarella.

“As a result of our recently launched Angular™ JavaScript website framework, we expect a rapid go-to-market turnaround with bet processing starting in May 2019. Based upon their past performance, we anticipate an increase of approximately $350,000 in sports betting and $2 million in online Casino handle per month from this new operator,” he added.

The company conducts its business under the registered brand Newgioco primarily through its internet-based betting distribution network on its website, as well as retail neighbourhood betting shops situated throughout Italy.

The post Newgioco to fuel Italian expansion from Malta first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The two ministers “pledged to intensify the good relationship” built between the two countries along the years, the press statement notes.

The two officials attended the meeting in the company of the two respective Central Bank Governors, Mario Vella and Ignazio Visco, the Italian Ambassador to Malta, Mario Sammartino, and the Chief of Staff for the Ministry for Finance, Paul Debattista, the press release adds.

Ministers, Governors and high officials from the Finance Ministries and Central Banks of Italy, Greece, Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Albania and Timor-Leste, attended the aforementioned constituency meeting, another DOI press release informs.

During the constituency meeting, two presentations were held entitled “Fostering social and gender inclusion” and “Toward a new Social Contract”, by Shekhar Aiyar, Advisor for the IMF, and Maurizio Bussolo, Lead Economist from the World Bank, respectively.

The post Maltese, Italian finance ministers agree to intensify ‘good relationship’ first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Melita Italia will use Italy’s Open Fiber wholesale network to initially provide services in Catania, Palermo, Milan and Naples, before expanding to more than 30 cities and 3,000 sales points by the end of 2021. The venture is headed by former Telecom Italia CEO Riccardo Ruggiero, and is expected to create 100 new jobs, mostly based in Southern Italy.

“Melita has a great opportunity to grow in Italy as the country’s super-fast fibre internet network enters a phase of rapid expansion. Working together with Open Fiber, I am very much looking forward to this new and exciting challenge,” says Mr Ruggiero, Executive Chairman at Melita Italia.

Following the European launch of Plume by Melita in Malta in 2018, Melita Italia customers will become the second Melita group in Europe to benefit from Plume’s services bundle that provides access to highly personalized in-home experiences, the press statement promises. Plume membership includes Adaptive WiFiTM, HomePass guest access, advanced parental controls, the Plume app and SuperPods that combine to learn and adapt to the needs of the home to make WiFi faster, safer and more reliable, the statement adds.

“This is a significant milestone for Melita, a business built in Malta, which is now expanding into new markets. While our core business will remain in Malta, Italy presents an excellent opportunity for growth as millions of homes gain access to the Open Fiber network,” says Harald Rösch, CEO of Melita Ltd. “By combining the skills of our team in Malta — where we are innovative leaders in the provision of internet services and customer experience — with the market knowledge of Riccardo and his team, the future for Melita in Malta and Italy looks bright,” Mr Rösch adds.

The post Melita opens business in Italy, eyes expansion first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“We are now taking the next step on our global expansion journey and apply for our first license in a Spanish-speaking country, Spain,” says Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas Group.

Mr Hagman tags Spain as one of the fastest-growing markets in Europe. The CEO believes that due to his group’s technology and experience; they will be able to effectively adapt their business to regulated markets regardless of language and regulations.

As more than 470 million people speak Spanish, the company sees entering Spain as a first step to get into several Spanish-speaking countries, the press release notes.

The Spanish casino market grew by more than 30% in Q3 2018 compared to 2017, and it is projected to be worth approximately €1bn in 2019, according to estimates provided by H2 Gambling Capital data, which is one of the gambling industry’s leading providers of figures and analyses. The Swedish market, in comparison, is worth approximately €1.4bn.

“Today only about 11% of all gaming in Spain is conducted online, compared with 52% in Sweden. Spain’s online gaming market is experiencing strong growth as more and more gaming is being conducted online. The most recent figures from the Spanish gambling authority show that the casino segment grew by 30% in Q3 2018 compared with the same period last year,” LeoVegas notes in the press release.

LeoVegas holds gaming licences in Malta, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Ireland and now awaits for Spain.

LeoVegas’s announcement comes very shortly after a cut in gross gaming revenue from 25% to 20% has been approved by the Spanish government. LeoVegas appears to pop up as a fierce competitor of GiG in the market with a jumpstart, which announced similar plans very recently for the second half of the year.

The post LeoVegas to enter Spanish market in Q1 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.