GO Malta said it will soon be commencing IPTV commercial trials, which will see tv services being offered over both ADSL and fibre technologies with customers benefiting from a new and revolutionary television viewing experience. This is part of GO’s committed €100 million investment over a six-year period starting from this year as part of its technology roadmap which will see it launching next generation networks such as fibre-to-the-home, mobile network upgrades and investments in its tv infrastructure to cover new services and applications, including IPTV.

This was announced by GO’s Chief Executive Officer David Kay in the presence of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, during a visit made by Dr Gonzi and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Austin Gatt at GO’s renovated head offices in Marsa. During the visit the Prime Minister was given a tour of GO’s head offices, including the new GO business centre and the state-of-the-art Network Operations Centre for mobile and fixed communication services. The head offices house all of GO’s core and support functions.

In his comments, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi thanked GO for its commitment to investment in the country. Dr Gonzi added that ”Telecommunications is an important economic enabler and investments in such infrastructure are pivotal for Malta to sustain its growth and development. The investment that GO has undertaken over the past years and in the coming years, further confirms that liberalisation and privatisation processes have been important catalysts for investment and innovation. As a result, we have seen subscription indices and penetration rates rise as well as the growth of important economic sectors such as the financial services and the ICT industry which depend on the availability of modern and reliable telecommunications infrastructure. These investments over the years and in the coming years will continue to increase Malta’s investment attractiveness and sustain Malta’s economic growth.”

David Kay said GO has just finalised an agreement with an international provider for the launch of carrier-grade IPTV services in Malta. He explained that this alternative solution will provide GO’s customers a next generation TV experience which includes 3D and High Definition capability, on demand television as well as interactive games and services. He said that IPTV will be launched via a commercial trial with a much wider variety of television channels including High Definition channels and GO will be obtaining customer feedback during the roll-out.

“GO is at the forefront of technology and is investing both at an access level to make fibre technology available across the country, as well as on the applications level, so as to ensure our customers benefit from the latest services and products,” Mr Kay said.

Mr Kay said last month GO announced that it is the first communications provider in Malta to offer 100 Mbps fibre connectivity, as part of its commercial trials at Portomaso and Forth Mansions in Ta’ Xbiex. The plan is to offer similar speeds in more areas of Malta and Gozo once fibre is made more widely available, subject to upcoming government policy and regulatory decisions.

Meanwhile, during the Prime Minister’s visit, GO celebrated important anniversaries and milestones. In fact, GO is celebrating the tenth anniversary since launching its mobile services on 1 December 2000.

Mr Kay said: “We can surely say that our entry in the mobile communications market has been a great success and we have been pivotal to the popularisation of the mobile phone service in Malta.”

In addition, 35 years ago, GO started offering fixed line telephony as a government corporation, and 15 years ago it introduced internet in Malta by activating the first submarine cable link to Europe. Three years ago, GO entered the tv business, and rebranded to GO.

“All these are very special milestones in our journey to establish ourselves as Malta’s leading communications and entertainment provider. We thank all our stakeholders – our employees for their work and dedication, our customers for their continued loyalty and support, our shareholders for believing in this company, and the country’s authorities for making sure our industry continues to grow. From our end, we are geared up to make sure the country achieves its targets, especially in the ICT sector,” Mr Kay said

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