Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/838705
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 JUNE 2017 13 MATTHEW VELLA THE Malta Communications Au- thority has reported a stronger take-up of faster broadband sub- scriptions, citing the attraction of TV streaming services as the main reason. The pay TV sector that is held by telcos GO and Melita has seen its subscriber base shrink by 1.1% year-on-year, from 149,378 sub- scriptions at the end of 2015 to 147,756 subscriptions at the end of the current reporting period. "One common explanation to this trend is the rise in the popu- larity of online video streaming services, like YouTube, Netflix, Skype and Internet Protocol Tele- vision (IPTV)," the MCA said in its market review for July-December 2016. The MCA does not have the ac- tual figures as to the number of people actively using these ser- vices. "However, surveys carried out regularly by the MCA indicate a consistent rise in take-up of such services." Another important trend con- cerning the pay TV sector is the rising proportion of end-users purchasing their pay TV service in a bundle. The proportion of pay TV sub- scriptions purchased in a bundle went up by 4.4 percentage points between 2015 and 2016, from 56.0% to 60.4%. "These latest changes in take-up of pay TV weighed significantly on the sector's revenue side, as evidenced by the year-on-year de- cline in average revenue per user (ARPU), reported by local service providers," the MCA said. Fixed broadband subscriptions supporting download speeds of 30Mbps or higher now represent 59.4% of the local fixed broadband subscriber base. Take-up of fixed broadband in a bundle remained very popular in 2016, with the pro- portion of such subscriptions ris- ing from 72.7% at the end of 2015 to 78.7% at the end of last year. The increasing number of fixed broadband connections on super- fast download speeds enabled local service providers to improve AR- PU by almost 10.0%, from €181.45 in 2015 to €199.45 in 2016. "This increase in ARPU hap- pened at a time when the average price per Mbit was down by 26.3% year-on-year. The falling take- up of pay TV contrasts with the positive developments in take-up reported for other electronic com- munications services," the MCA said. 2016 experienced a continued increase in uptake for fixed and mobile telephony services, along- side stronger demand for fixed and mobile data services. Only the pay TV sector went against this trend, as the sector witnessed a decline in take-up. Mobile telephony consolidated its position as the most commonly used form of voice communication in Malta, with 807.6 million voice call minutes registered in 2016, representing a 4.7% increase in traffic volumes over the previous year. This contrasts sharply with de- velopments for the fixed telephony sector, where voice minute traffic volumes dipped by 7.7% year-on- year. Notwithstanding the decline in traffic volumes, the fixed teleph- ony subscriber base strengthened year-on-year, with 4,157 more subscriptions reported at the end of the reporting period. "This shows that people still val- ue having a fixed line connection at home or at their business prem- ises, even though their usage of the service is falling," the MCA said. The mobile sector also registered an upward trend in take up, with the number of subscriptions going up by 6.3% year-on-year to reach 592,923 by the end of 2016. "Whilst the on-going growth in the mobile telephony subscriber base partly reflects the trend of end-users purchasing multiple connections instead of switching, changing consumer preferences (particularly in the use of mobile data services) contribute signifi- cantly to the increase. "Meanwhile, improved minute allowances and falling average rates per minute of communica- tion contribute to the increase in mobile voice traffic volumes." The positive developments for the mobile sector did not howev- er translate in improved revenue streams on a per user level for lo- cal service providers. In fact, mo- bile telephony ARPU in 2016 stood at €177.38, down by 2.2% from €181.37 in 2015. The fixed telephony sector regis- tered a bigger drop in ARPU, with this indicator sliding by 5.7% from €151.46 in 2015 to €142.77 in 2016. The main factor explaining the drop in fixed line telephony ARPU is the significant decline reported in terms of voice traffic volumes. Another important trend con- cerns the changing consumer preferences in view of mobile data usage levels. It is of note that the number of end-users actively us- ing mobile broadband services was up by almost 39,000 (or by 14.4%) between December 2015 and December 2016. This increase coincides with the rising popular- ity of mobile applications, social networking and other online ac- tivities, which all contribute to a stronger take-up of mobile data plans. "There have also been instances where service providers offered more generous data allowances, enticing end-users to make higher use of mobile broadband data ser- vices," the MCA said. Take-up of fixed broadband strengthened in 2016, with 8,088 new customers added to the lo- cal subscriber base. This increase in take-up pushed up the fixed broadband penetration rate to 39.0% by the end of 2016, com- pared to 37.6% a year earlier. THE Libyan coastguard has rescued more than 900 African and Asian asy- lum seekers attempting to reach Eu- rope, a navy spokesperson said yester- day. "A coastguard patrol from Zawiya (west of Tripoli) intercepted five inflat- able boats and a wooden vessel carrying 906 migrants at dawn on Friday," Gen- eral Ayoub Qassem said, AFP reported. According to the report, the groups included 25 children and 98 women. Seven of the women were pregnant. "One of the rubber boats was holed and on the point of sinking, while the wooden one did not have a motor," the General said. People traffickers have exploited the chaos in Libya since a 2011 uprising toppled and killed strongman Muam- mar Gaddafi to boost their lucrative but deadly trade. This followed the rescue of 412 peo- ple by search-and-rescue organisation MOAS between Friday and Saturday. The NGO's rescue vessel Phoenix en- tered the port of Trapani in western Sicily with hundreds of Sub-Saharan asylum seekers which included 58 women – of which 13 are pregnant - 278 men and 75 unaccompanied mi- nors. The figures emerge as human rights agencies continue to express concern over the migrant situation in Libya. Notably, the United Nations migra- tion agency this week expressed deep concern for hundreds of Somali and Ethiopian migrants, allegedly held and mistreated by criminal gangs in Libya. The agency said some captives' rela- tives had received videos asking them to pay $8,000 to $10,000 "or their child or relative will be killed". The captives' exact location was not known, but the International Organisation for Migra- tion said the relevant authorities had been informed. News Another important trend concerning the pay TV sector is the rising proportion of end-users purchasing their pay TV service in a bundle YouTube, Netflix, and IPTV hitting pay TV subscriber base Over 1,300 asylum seekers rescued at sea MOAS rescued 412 asylum seekers, including 75 unaccompanied minors A 1.1% hit to the pay TV sector was the result of online video streaming services like YouTube, Netflix, Skype and IPTV, the MCA said