Melita’s 20th Anniversary
20 years of Communications and Home Entertainment
Welcome to the 20th Anniversary celebrations of Melita. We would like our 20th anniversary celebrations to be remembered as a continuation of success, with breakthrough achievements for Malta and the start of more exciting developments. Describing 20 years of experiences is never easy, especially in the context of our business. In the next few slides we share with you the key moments that have helped shape the home entertainment and telecommunications landscape in Malta.
Melita launches Cable TV Services
Goodbye aerials and grainy picture
In June 1991, Melita signed an agreement with the Government of Malta to roll-out a cable TV system throughout the Maltese islands. Just a year later in 1992, Melita welcomes its first TV customers. Customers could opt for three levels of analogue cable TV packages and channels like Discovery, MTV and National Geographic were available in Malta for the first time. The introduction of Cable TV services meant that many people were getting rid of the eye sore of aerials on their roofs and did not depend on good weather or distance to Sicily to get good quality picture and sound. Choice and quality of TV stations was increased drastically.
Not just TV
Welcome to the World Wide Web
Melita was also at the forefront of Internet services. As early as 1999, the company became a leading Internet Service Provider through the acquisition of Video-On-Line offering dial-up internet services. Just a year after, Melita introduced broadband always-on Internet services when it started delivering Internet connections through its cable network. Always-on meant customers could now spend hours on the Internet without having to worry about telephone bills or connecting in the evenings only, and you never dial-up and find the service busy!
Let’s get Digital
More choice, more quality
The demand for communications and home entertainments is constantly growing. With technology improvements and wider availability of quality content, Melita launched its digital TV service in 2004. Customers now had a choice of more than double the amount of channels they had before. More knowledge, lifestyle, education and entertainment programming was available. Digital meant even better picture quality and sound, but also introduced new services such as the Electronic Programme Guide and digital radio stations. Looking for your favourite programme and putting reminders became so much easier. Entertaining your friends with thematic digital music channels was simply a matter of choosing your favourite kind of music.
Entertaining 100,000 households
2004 was also a very important milestone for Melita as it was the year when the company reached its 100,000 TV customer. From homes with analogue services to bars and restaurants with multiple digital TV connections, Melita was the source of choice of entertainment for most of Malta’s homes.
Talk Talk Talk
when phoning your family and friends got cheaper. Say Hello!
It is no secret that Maltese people love socialising. They love to keep in touch with their family and friends. It was to no surprise that as Malta’s leader in communications and home entertainment, Melita entered the fixed telephony market. The commitment was very simple, to offer the cheapest fixed telephony product in the market with propositions such as free calls to all subscribers, creating communities and giving peace of mind to customers that they will not have bill shocks for the telephony services.
Need for speed
Just can’t get enough. From dial-up to 50 Megabits per second.
As the leader in broadband internet, and with a growing demand for bandwidth, Melita’s shareholders felt the time was right for the company to have its own international connectivity. In 2008 a state-of-the-art 100Km fibre-optic cable linking Melita and Malta to the rest of Europe was laid. With the increased availability of bandwidth and investments in the local network, Melita launched a nationwide superfast 50Mbps cable internet product. A product, which until today, remains unmatched by other local competitors.
Melita becomes Mobile.
The one when mobile telephony became Unlimited!
Cheaper, simpler and better was the slogan of the innovative campaign marking the launch of Melita Mobile. The company had a very clear objective of making Mobile telephony cheaper and more accessible to local consumers and breaking the status quo that existed in this market. Within less than two years the company had already achieved almost 16% of all mobile minutes of use. Entities such as the European Commission also indicated Melita Mobile as the main driver for reduction in rates of mobile calls in Malta.
Simply glorious High Definition
Committed to be a leader in home entertainment, Melita was the first local Pay TV operator to launch next generation services such as High Definition TV and PVR services. In 2010 Melita rolled-out a brand new hybrid set-top box which is ready for future services based on internet connectivity and on-demand applications. What better way to launch HD TV than the 2010 FIFA World Cup which saw Spain and Netherlands fight it out till the last minute. And those who missed any action could simply rewind using the Netbox HD PVR service.
When fast just doesn’t cut it.
FibrePower 100 megabits broadband.
Marking the 20 year anniversary of the company, Melita is taking the broadband service in Malta to a higher level. Despite being unrivalled in top-speeds, Melita is upgrading its network to be able to offer broadband speeds branded ‘FibrePower’ of up to 100Megabits in all Malta and Gozo. FibrePower is ideal for the connected household, where everyone at homes uses the Internet a lot or a little through their PC, laptop, mobile, TV or other device.