As at the end of March, subscriptions to all forms of communication technology increased. Postal traffic totalled 10.4 million items for the first quarter.

Telecommunications

In the quarter under review, the absolute number of mobile telephone subscriptions reached 388,284. Subscriptions to post-paid schemes were recorded at 68,754, while pre-paid schemes subscriptions stood at 319,530. The mobile penetration rate stood at 93.8 per cent. Both local originating mobile traffic and inbound roaming traffic experienced an increase compared to the corresponding period in 2008. On the other hand a decrease was registed in the number of SMSs and MMSs sent.

The fixed-telephone subscription index increased by 6.9 per cent from 111.1 in 2008 Q1 to 118.8 in the comparable quarter this year. Total fixed originating minutes to the national network amounted to around 153 million minutes. Around 16 million minutes were consumed towards an international network.

Internet, Cable and Digital Subscriptions

The internet subscription index rose by 10.9 per cent from 129.3 as at the end of March 2008 to 143.4 as at the end of the corresponding quarter this year. Out of every 100 persons in the population, 25.4 had an internet subscription.

Table 6 shows a shift in the internet subscriptions. Whilst the number of active narrowband (dial-up) subscriptions decreased by 61.0 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year, the number of broadband users increased by 14.0 per cent when compared to the first quarter of 2008. As the end of March, 86.7 per cent of broadband subscribers had a connection speed of more than or equal to 144 kbps, but less or equal to 10 Mbps.

The pay TV subscriptions index increased by 11.0 per cent. Cable and digital television subscriptions were recorded at 95.5 per cent of households as at the end of March 2009. Digital subscriptions amounted to 63.0 per cent of the overall subscriptions.

Post and Couriers

Total postal traffic for the first quarter this year amounted to around 10.4 million items, of which the absolute bulk represented letters and other printed items. Table 8 focuses on different types of national postal traffic.

In the same reference period, courier traffic totalled 67,620 items, of which 50.3 per cent were letters or documents, and the rest parcels.

Permalink: Subscriptions to all forms of communication technology rose in March