As at the end of September subscriptions to all forms of communication technology, with the exception of fixed telephony, registered increases when compared to the corresponding period last year. A substantial increase was noted in mobile telephone subscriptions.

Internet, analogue and digital subscriptions

No active narrowband (dial-up) internet subscriptions were recorded as at the end of quarter 3, confirming the trend from previous quarters that this type of internet connection is becoming obsolete. Broadband subscriptions grew by 6.5 per cent, reaching 127,976. The majority of broadband subscribers had a connection speed of at least 2 Mbps, while internet speeds exceeding 10 Mbps recorded a substantial increase. The internet subscription index as at the end of September stood at 137.5, up by 6.3 percentage points over 2010.

Television subscriptions numbered 148,668, while the television subscription index went up by 2.5 percentage points when compared to the corresponding reference period in 2010. The main cause of this change was an increase in digital subscriptions, which advanced by 7.3 per cent. On the other hand, a drop of 33.7 per cent was registered in the number of analogue subscriptions. In the third quarter, digital subscriptions accounted for 93 per cent of total television subscriptions.

Telecommunications

In absolute terms the number of fixed telephone subscriptions totalled 240,915, resulting in a drop of 2.2 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year. The fixed telephone subscription index registered a decline equivalent to 2.2 percentage points when compared to last year. During the same period, total fixed originating minutes to national and international networks dropped by 10.7 and 14.2 per cent respectively.

Mobile telephone subscriptions continued to strengthen and stood at 525,848, up by 17.8 per cent when compared to the previous year. Increases were recorded in both post-paid and pre-paid schemes. The mobile penetration rate per 100 persons in the population amounted to 125.4 per cent, implying that a considerable number of individuals have more than one mobile account. Increases were recorded in local originating mobile traffic, both towards fixed and mobile telephone networks. Drops were registered in inbound roaming activities, while outbound roaming calls and SMSs increased substantially.

Total postal traffic for the reference quarter amounted to over 10.3 million items, dropping by 2.4 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2010. Total parcels and other items were recorded at 21,341, an increase of 10.1 when compared to the previous year.

These statistics are released by the National Statistics Office.

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