Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1332685
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JANUARY 2021 NEWS Longer mobile phone calls, more broad- band subs in COVID year KURT SANSONE MOBILE phone calls got longer during the COVID-19 pandem- ic in 2020, with voice-minutes up almost 15% in September, figures released by the Malta Communi- cations Authority show. While the number of outgoing voice calls was a mere 1% high- er when compared to the same quarter in 2019, mobile phone users kept up the trend of mak- ing increasingly lengthier calls. The higher voice-minutes con- trast with the lower volumes of SMS and MMS that decreased by 9% and 29.4% respectively. How- ever, 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 pan- demic. 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 slight- ly higher than that registered 12 months earlier and is fully attributed to the post-paid seg- ment, which added 13,561 new subscriptions. This slightly out- weighed a decrease in pre-paid subscriptions of 13,289. The MCA noted that decreased travel activity as a result of COV- ID-19 restrictions, impacted roaming minutes and data vol- umes. 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 intro- duced 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 Of- fice 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 ear- lier. Broadband subscriptions large- ly formed part of communication bundles purchased by house- holds. 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 in- crease by 9,288 to 172,655 in September 2020 when compared to the same month in 2019. However, service providers on- ly reported an increase of 4,000 new clients for the same period. "This means that a substantial number of existing pay TV sub- scribers 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 Septem- ber. However, bulk mail volumes were up by 6.1%, registered mail up by 89.2% and parcel mail vol- umes up by 57.6% as a result of the surge in e-commerce driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. LAURA CALLEJA LABOUR MEP Alex Agius Saliba's report on the right to disconnect comes at the ta- pering of the shock pandemic that changed lives in 2020 and sent everyone 'home'. Now working from home, flexi- and tele- work makes the always-on culture a fact of life. And yet, being reachable by smartphone at any second has blurred the boundaries of our work and private lives. The widespread use of digital tools, in- cluding ICT, for work purposes has enabled workers with greater working time autono- my and flexibility in work organisation. In contrast, however, they also have created new ways of extending working hours and diluting the boundaries between working and free time. They have also been associ- ated with types of "work nomadism", as a result of which workers often become un- able to disconnect from work, which, over time, leads to physical and mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety, depres- sion and burnout, as well as impacting neg- atively on workers' work-life balance. Subce the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, flexible and remote working arrange- ments using digital tools, including ICT, have proved to be effective for business continuity in some industries and there has been a spike in the number of tele- workers and teleworkable solutions, which are expected to become increas- ingly common in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. On Thursday, the European Parliament voted in favour of Agius Saliba's 'historic' report on the right to disconnect by 472 votes in favour, in which MEPs agreed that making employees available at all hours by smartphone or email was detrimental to mental health and well-being. If EU member states agree, workers will be allowed to stay offline without suffering employer retribution as a result. Malta is already pioneering this legislation ahead of a mandatory EU law and the Opposition too is on board. One of those who voted in favour of the re- port is Nationalist MEP and EP vice-presi- dent Roberta Metsola. "I think the question of ensuring employees can 'disconnect' is important and it has become all the more crucial with so many people teleworking. That said, we have to make sure that the final text is flexible enough to allow so- cial partners and companies to adapt, for the legislation to take realities in different member states, like Malta and Gozo, into consideration." Referencing an amendment by Agius Saliba himself, Metsola said a three-year waiting period before any such law is intro- duced, will frustrate some who need imme- diate solutions. "However, I am sure it con- tributed to getting many people on board. So we will see progress on this issue, even if it takes a few more years," she said. A tamer version of the right to disconnect was already introduced in France back in 2017 – companies with more than 50 work- ers were obliged to draw up a charter of good conduct, setting out the hours when staff were not supposed to send or answer emails. France has a working week of 35 hours, which has been in place since 2000. Agius Saliba says the report went one step further, granting every EU worker the right to disconnect, regardless of the company size. "We cannot abandon millions of Eu- ropean workers, who keep going and do their jobs under the extremely difficult cir- cumstances of the pandemic, but who are exhausted by the pressure to be always 'on' and the extended working hours," he said. Yesterday, flanked by Maltese union boss- es, Agius Saliba said that employers will have a reverse burden of proof on them when accused by employees of having dis- criminated against them for not working after-hours. "They will have to answer for actions that discriminate against workers who avail themselves of the right to discon- nect," he said. But not everyone might be on board, or else have a different view of what consti- tutes after-hours and always-on work be- haviour. Josef Said, CEO of head-hunting firm Don't answer that phone! Malta will pioneer a law that gives workers the right not to answer work emails and calls after hours, but always- on culture can be hard to beat in the Maltese workplace