2013: MCA Consumer Perceptions Survey - Mobile Telephony

Between August and October 2013, the MCA commissioned a survey to gauge consumer sentiment on the mobile sector, in particular their perceptions on the general quality of service and prices.

Here are some of the main findings:

9% of all mobile subscribers have more than one connection, which, together with the penetration of business mobile users, explains such a high mobile penetration rate in Malta which currently stands at 135%.

The number of subscriptions on a post-paid contract is gradually increasing, registering a growth of 4 percentage points since 2011. Another area which has registered significant improvement is consumers’ perceptions on mobile tariff rates, with more than half of consumers who know the costs of making a call claiming these rates to be acceptable.

In terms of quality satisfaction levels, the survey shows that 88% of mobile subscribers are satisfied or highly satisfied with the level of service provided by their operator. Tariff rates continue to be the main driving force for mobile subscribers to switch operators, with 43% of subscribers claiming to switch operators should their current operator increase tariffs. In fact, 18% switched operator over a two year period with 88% claiming this process to be relatively easy.

Of most significance is the exceptional growth in Internet access via mobile technology. The number of mobile subscribers owning a smart phone allowing them access to the Internet more than doubled to 37%, from 16% registered in 2011. Subscriptions to mobile data plans are also on the increase, with 48% of those subscribers with a smart phone subscribing to a mobile data plan, compared to 26% in 2011. 64% of those subscribers using their smart phone to access the Internet, do so on a daily basis – mainly to check emails and for social networking.

The emergence of the mobile broadband market is further confirmed by market data as indicated in the graph below, which shows the continuous growth in data traffic.

View Survey Results