Be the first to comment!Internet & mobile subscriptions increased on last year – NSO
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Internet and mobile subscriptions as at the end of June both registered increases over 2012, contrasting with fixed telephone and TV subscriptions which saw declines.
The figures released by the National Statistics Office show that during the reference period, Internet broadband subscriptions numbered 142,299, increasing by 6.2 per cent over the comparative period last year.
High speed Internet connections exceeding 10 Mbps advanced to 115,250 and accounted for 81 per cent of the total. On the other hand, Internet subscriptions of between 2 Mbps and 10 Mbps went down by 58.6 per cent. The Internet subscription index as at the end of Quarter 2 stood at 152.9 per cent, increasing by 6.2 percentage points when compared to the corresponding period in 2012.
The number of television subscriptions totalled 146,544, down by 1.3 per cent over 2012. Digital subscriptions continued to dominate the market. Analogue subscriptions numbered 7,964, dropping by 14 per cent over the second quarter last year.
The number of fixed telephone subscriptions as at the end of June reached 229,997, down by 1.4 per cent over 2012. Total fixed originating minutes to national and international networks declined by 5 per cent and 12.1 per cent respectively.
During the reference period, mobile telephone subscriptions reached 554,651, up by 3.3 per cent over 2012. An advance of 8.2 per cent was recorded in the demand for post-paid schemes, and an increase of 2 per cent in pre-paid subscriptions.
The mobile penetration rate for Quarter 2 stood at 131.9 per cent. This means that a considerable number of individuals had more than one mobile account during the reference period. Increases were recorded in local originating mobile trafffc, both towards ? xed and mobile telephone networks – 5.8 and 15.3 per cent respectively. Meanwhile the number of SMS’s sent while roaming decreased by 1.1 per cent.
At around 9.9 million items, total postal traffic went down by 2.1 per cent. Items received and dispatched by couriers amounted to 167,054, an increase of 17.2 per cent over last year.
