Expression of interest for roll-out of ultra-fast broadband service

The Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications has launched a call for expressions of interest in the roll-out of a next generation broadband infrastructure that allows for ultra-fast broadband services, across Malta and Gozo.

The government will be speeding up the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband services to all areas of Malta and Gozo, concentrating initially on priority broadband users such as schools, hospitals, businesses and providers of other public services where possible.

Following this, the plan is to reach all residential areas in a phased approach through a nation-wide Fibre-to-the-Home network.

"This network is essential for Malta to continue to be among the leading nations in the field of ICT, building upon its successes in creating new jobs in the ICT and service- based industries to Malta and enabling the Government to continue to be the European leader in eGovernment services. Our plans for eHealth and eLearning solutions, which will bring state-of-the-art health care and learning solutions into our homes, are dependent on having a resilient, future-proof network, offering services in a competitive environment," minister Austin Gatt said.

The objective of having an ultra-fast broadband network is in line with the EU-wide objective of 100 Mbps service availability and widespread take-up by 2020.

Government's Vision 2015 programme plans to make Malta a centre of excellence in key economic sectors.

Its efforts have led to Malta being the European leader in eGovernment services, and to be the first country in Europe to mandate 4 Mbps connections as the minimum threshold for access to the internet.

These achievements however are not sufficient to meet anticipated future demand. Current networks will in the coming years become insufficient to meet the demand for wide-spread, high speed Internet access that developed economies will generate. Consequently all countries aspiring to be on the forefront of innovation, global trade and knowledge leadership, including a number of European and Asian as well as the United States, have plans to ensure the roll-out of superfast, new broadband networks.

"They are moving away from traditional technologies and laying down fibre-optic cable networks that enable the attainment of unprecedented broadband speeds," Gatt said. "These investments recognise that the Internet will continue to revolutionise the way we live, and work and that the long-term impact of fast internet access could equal that of electricity in the 20th century."

Gatt said Malta intends to remain at the forefront in this field and is taking important, concrete steps to secure the availability of such networks in Malta.

Intervention by the government will aim to ensure that wholesale access is available on the market in order to foster healthy retail competition.