More calls than texts made from mobile phones in Malta

The Maltese tend to call people rather than text, according to statistics issued by the Malta Communications Authority.

While popular belief is that texting is more frequently used than voice calls, the statistics show otherwise. One reason might be, however, the use of messengers such as WhatsApp or Facebook chat, which are not included in the statistics themselves. In 2016, 536,801,771 outgoing voice calls were made, up from the 372,919,683 back in 2012. SMSs however, seem to have dropped in popularity since 2012. In 2016, 401,794,594 outgoing SMSs were sent, while the number was 633,827,854 back in 2012.

As for roaming activity, in terms of both outbound and inbound minutes, while 53,998,580 minutes were spent roaming in 2012, the number rose to 88,094,981 minutes last year.

The number of mobile telephony subscriptions rose by around 60,000 since 2012, according to statistics by the Malta Communications Authority. Back in 2012, there were 532,228 mobile telephony subscriptions, rising to 592,923 by the end of 2016.

This results in a 2016 mobile penetration rate (measured as the total number of mobile subscriptions per population.) of 135.14%.

As at end 2012, there were 229,740 subscriptions for fixed line telephony, rising ever so slightly to 234,383 by end 2016. However, the total number of outgoing voice calls, despite the rise in subscriptions, has fallen. In 2012, 192,324,278 outgoing voice calls were made, and in 2016, this number dropped to 138,535,192 outgoing voice calls.

As for postal mail volume, the amount of mail has decreased over the years. Back in 2012, 41,725,421 postal mails were sent and received, while in 2016, the amount dropped to 37,074,861.

The data also shows fixed broadband subscription (connections to the internet which are ‘always on’ and have a speed of more than 128kbps) numbers. In 2012, the total number of fixed broadband subscriptions stood at 135,758, rising to 171,293 last year.