Longer mobile phone calls, more broadband subs in COVID year

Mobile phone calls got longer during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with voice-minutes up almost 15% in September, figures released by the Malta Communications Authority show.

While the number of outgoing voice calls was a mere 1% higher when compared to the same quarter in 2019, mobile phone users kept up the trend of making increasingly lengthier calls.

The higher voice-minutes contrast with the lower volumes of SMS and MMS that decreased by 9% and 29.4% respectively. However, mobile data consumption increased by a whopping 153%.

The information compiled by the MCA shows that mobile phone subscriptions bounced back from the decline observed in the previous quarter due to the immediate impact of the pandemic.

Mobile subscriptions increased by almost 19,000 to reach 635,040 by the end of September when compared to the previous quarter. However, the number of subscriptions was only slightly higher than that registered 12 months earlier and is fully attributed to the post-paid segment, which added 13,561 new subscriptions. This slightly outweighed a decrease in pre-paid subscriptions of 13,289.

The MCA noted that decreased travel activity as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, impacted roaming minutes and data volumes.

Outbound roaming minutes in the third quarter of 2020 were 44% lower when compared to the same period a year earlier, while inbound roaming minutes were almost 50% lower.

International travel activity ground to a halt last year and continues to be hampered as a result of restrictions introduced by governments to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The MCA data on roaming mirrors the information released by Malta International Airport this week that shows a decrease in passenger traffic of 76% last year and National Statistics Office figures showing a 93% drop in cruise liner arrivals.

Broadband subscriptions

Broadband subscriptions stood at 211,060 in September, which was 10,759 more than a year earlier.

Broadband subscriptions largely formed part of communication bundles purchased by households. The absolute majority of subscriptions for the first time had a headline download speed of 100Mbps or more.

“The rise in fixed broadband take-up demonstrates society’s increasingly stronger reliance on connectivity and digital services, especially after the developments that marked the second quarter of 2020 with the huge spike in remote working and other digital homebound activities,” the MCA noted.

The bundling of services also saw pay TV subscriptions increase by 9,288 to 172,655 in September 2020 when compared to the same month in 2019.

However, service providers only reported an increase of 4,000 new clients for the same period. “This means that a substantial number of existing pay TV subscribers on a stand-alone plan effectively switched to a pay TV plan packaged in a bundle,” the MCA said, adding that 80% of all pay TV subscriptions were bought in a bundle.

Postal service

The MCA report also covers the postal service, which showed that standard letter mail volumes decreased by 30.4% by September.

However, bulk mail volumes were up by 6.1%, registered mail up by 89.2% and parcel mail volumes up by 57.6% as a result of the surge in e-commerce driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.