8,000 new e-talk subscribers in one month

by Franco Aloisio

In just one month Vodafone Malta managed to attract 8,000 new subscribers after the company offered attractive packages and discounts during the month of April, Vodafone managing director Joe Grioli said.

The number of mobile users has now reached the 50,000 mark, of which 30,000 are e-talk subscribers.

Mr Grioli told The Malta Business Weekly that Vodafone is "happy with the result of the April offer for a reduced e-talk starter pack and free connections to post paid subscribers. Around 8,000 subscribers benefited from the offer."

This means that around 300 customers a day became e-talk subscribers during this month. The offer consisted of an e-talk package worth Lm15, instead of the previous Lm34.50, including a 28-day Lm10 top-up voucher.

Mr Grioli admitted that the mobile network was becoming congested as a result of the increased number of subscribers.

"We have noticed that there was some congestion in certain areas at times and this is bound to happen with such a heavy influx of new subscribers in such a short time. However, this is being actively addressed and subscribers will notice a marked improvement every day," he said. Meanwhile, the new reduced tariffs for mobile phones will come into effect next Monday, 1 May. Mr Grioli would not state the new tariff structure, and added that these will be announced in the local media.

However, in its proposals to the regulator, Vodafone had called for an average of 25 per cent reduction on tariffs and an extension of 100 per cent of the current time window on the e-talk tariff.

The regulator accepted these two proposals. However, the reduction in tariffs will be less than 25 per cent. Moreover, the company had also requested cheaper intra-network rates. The latter proposal was not accepted.

On the "free-for-all" liberalisation of the telecommunications sector revealed in the latest issue of The Malta Independent on Sunday, Mr Grioli said: "The opening of the telecommunications market is most welcome.

"This will offer new challenges and new opportunities that we are looking forward to. The mobile telephone market will increase in size and the number of products available to the consumer will also be noticeably widened. The consumer is also bound to benefit from this and better prices that will be available on the market," Mr Grioli said.