With reference to the article published on today’s Times of Malta reporting on broadband services throughout Europe, the conclusions in the newspaper report do not reflect Malta’s broadband quality, pricing or coverage. The methodology utilized in testing and conclusions do not reflect Malta’s advances and positioning as one of the EU’s leading next generation broadband nations.
Malta
Test results are not based on a measurement server in Malta as the entity executing the quality tests did not bother to install a local test server. This fact has a material impact on some of the results putting into question most of the findings as comparison is made with countries having a local measurement server.
Pricing comparisons are based on PPP indexing and do not take into consideration Malta’s size and geographical position. In real terms Malta’s prices are amongst Europe’s cheapest when comparing equivalent products.
EU Digital Agenda scoreboard for 2015 confirms Malta as leader in Next-Generation broadband both in terms of coverage and take-up of high speed internet
Melita
The EC report is also interpreted in an incorrect manner as the data actually confirms that in terms of Actual vs Advertised speeds Melita’s result is 21% better than EU overall weighted result. Average download speeds for Melita’s customers grew by 16% over previous report.
Melita has been repeatedly confirmed as Malta’s fastest broadband internet provider by international independent speed test company OOKLA, which bases its results on hundreds of daily tests performed by real customers from their homes. OOKLA hosts measurement servers in Malta with all major internet service providers.
For a 30 Megabit product which Melita charges at EUR 23.50 per month, operators in countries such as Netherlands, Portugal or Italy charge EUR 38, EUR 40 and EUR 42 respectively.
As confirmed by EU Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2015 Melita’s continuous multi-million Euro investments have thrust Malta in the number one position amongst EU countries for coverage of Next Generation Broadband. Melita provides access to speeds of 100 Megabits per second or more wherever and whenever customers need it around Malta and Gozo. Thanks to Melita’s investment, the report concludes: “Malta remains the only country to report complete coverage for NGA technologies”.
The size of Malta is a fact as is its distance from a major Internet hub. Melita and other local operators have no choice but to incur additional costs to physically get to main Internet hubs such as Milan, London or Frankfurt to connect to the Internet. This physical reality also impacts latency which the newspaper incorrectly interpreted as “meaning the service is being given at a slow speed”. Malta cannot escape the fact that it is the country furthest away from internet hubs therefore response will always take longer since it needs to travel longer distances, although this is measured in milliseconds. The entity executing the quality tests on behalf of the EC confirmed in the report that tests are not based on a measurement server in Malta, which would have material impact on the results.
Melita would like to state that it was not asked to comment on the EC report and results before the article was published. The company will further analyse the data available and will discuss its findings and conclusions with the relevant authorities. The discussions amongst stakeholders should focus on how to improve Malta’s international connectivity, reducing international connectivity costs and incentivizing customers to move to faster broadband speeds in line with Digital Agenda objectives.