This article needs to be updated.(January 2024) |
Internet in Malta plays a key role in enhancing the nation's digital infrastructure and public services.
In the 2022 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report, which assesses digital development among the 27 EU member countries, Malta has an overall ranking of 6th place. In human capital it ranks 7th, with notable statistics including 26% female Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists and 28% of Maltese enterprises providing ICT training, both exceeding the EU averages of 19% and 20%, respectively. In terms of connectivity, Malta ranks 16th with 100% Fixed Very High Capacity Network (VHCN) coverage, which exceeds the EU average of 70%. However, it lags significantly behind in 5G coverage and implementation.The country's 5th position in digital technology integration reflects its advancement in areas such as Big Data, Cloud, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). In digital public services, Malta performs very well with 100% coverage for services aimed at citizens and 97% for businesses, exceeding the EU averages of 75% and 82% respectively. [1] [2]
Dial-up Internet access was first introduced in Malta in the mid-1990s by various ISPs, including Keyworld, Video On-Line, Global Net, MaltaNet, and Waldonet. This narrowband service has been entirely replaced by broadband technologies.
Malta's fixed broadband sector stands out with an 88% take-up rate, exceeding the European average of 78%. The country also leads in high-speed broadband, with 53% of connections offering speeds of at least 100 Mbps, above the EU's 41%. Notably, both Fast Broadband and Very High Capacity Network coverage have achieved full 100% coverage in Malta, significantly exceeding the EU averages of 90% and 70%, respectively. However, in Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) coverage, Malta records 48%, slightly trailing the EU's 50%. [2]
The take-up rate in the country's mobile broadband sector is 87%, matching the general trend across the EU. However, Malta's progress in 5G technology indicates areas for growth. The 5G spectrum assignment is at 25%, considerably less than the EU's 56%, and the coverage is only 20%, which is significantly lower than the EU's average of 66%. [2]
The DESI 2022 report ranks Malta third in the EU for digital public services, noting a 72% e-government user rate, above the EU average of 65%. Malta achieves scores of 100% for citizen services and 97% for business services, exceeding the EU averages of 75% and 82%, respectively. Nonetheless, Malta's open data utilization, at 51%, is below the EU average of 81% [2] .
The Servizz.gov portal is central to Malta's digital strategy, offering access to digital public services. The "Achieving a Service of Excellence" strategy, introduced in 2021, focuses on achieving full digitalization, emphasizing electronic identification (e-ID) and data sharing. Over half of the population uses the e-ID scheme, with initiatives underway to extend its functionality and introduce a digital wallet. The myHealth portal and the 'once only' principle are further examples of Malta's initiatives in digital health services and active data utilization [2] .
Telecommunications in Finland, as indicated by a 2022 European Commission index, highlight the country's significant role in the EU's digital sector. Finland has a high concentration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists and robust training programs, leading to notable expertise in technologies like AI and cloud computing. The nation has also made significant advancements in 5G technology. Additionally, Finland stands out for its high adoption of digital public services. The Finnish digital sector benefits from both the technology industry's contributions and government policies aimed at enhancing digital infrastructure and cybersecurity.
This article offers an overview of telecommunications in Lithuania, encompassing radio, television, telephony, and Internet services.
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Telecommunications infrastructure in South Africa provides modern and efficient service to urban areas, including cellular and internet services. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is the watchdog of the telecommunications in the country.
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Since its beginnings in 1995, the Internet in Malaysia has become the main platform for free discussion in the country's otherwise tightly controlled media environment. As of Q1 2017, Malaysia had broadband penetration rates of 103.6% and 81.8%.
According to research done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Netherlands is ranked with Switzerland in having the most broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, has no bandwidth caps, and has the most homes passed in Europe in terms of connection speeds of 50 Mbit/s and higher.
The Internet in Croatia became a reality in November 1992 when the first international connection linking Zagreb and Vienna became operational.
This article is about the Internet in Spain.
Internet in Poland has seen continuous adoption over recent years. In 2020, 90.4% of households and 98.6% of business entities were reported to use the internet. By 2023, this usage expanded, with 93.3% of households having internet access. The adoption of fixed broadband reached 69.5%, and mobile broadband usage increased to 73.7%.
The Internet in Sweden was used by 94.0% of the population, the fourth highest usage rate in the world, behind only the Falkland Islands (96.9%), Iceland (96.0%), and Norway (95%) in 2015. Sweden ranks 18th and 5th highest in the world in terms of the percentage of its fixed and wireless broadband subscriptions. It has the second fastest average internet connection speed in the world.
The Internet in Pakistan has been available since the early 1990s. Pakistan has about 130 million internet users, making it the 7th-largest population of internet users in the world. Information and communications technology (ICT) is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. In 2001 just 1.3% of the population used the Internet. By 2006 this figure had grown to 6.5% and in 2012 to 10.0%. As of July 2021; the percentage of internet users in Pakistan is 54%, which translates into approximately 118 million citizens having access to internet. Inadequate infrastructure is adversely impacting Internet speeds, encompassing technology, available backhaul, and international Internet bandwidth. This is the primary reason why Pakistan's Internet speed lags behind that of neighboring countries and even some less developed nations worldwide.
Internet in Estonia has one of the highest penetration rates in the world. In the first quarter of 2010, 75% out of 1.34 million people in the country used the Internet according to Statistics Estonia. In 2017, according to the World Bank came 13th in the world by the percentage of population using the Internet, with 88.1% people using it.
Telecommunications in Denmark encompasses a well-developed network of internet, telephone services, and broadcasting stations. Denmark has high internet connectivity and widespread mobile broadband adoption.
Broadband is a term normally considered to be synonymous with a high-speed connection to the internet. Suitability for certain applications, or technically a certain quality of service, is often assumed. For instance, low round trip delay would normally be assumed to be well under 150ms and suitable for Voice over IP, online gaming, financial trading especially arbitrage, virtual private networks and other latency-sensitive applications. This would rule out satellite Internet as inherently high-latency. In some applications, utility-grade reliability or security are often also assumed or defined as requirements. There is no single definition of broadband and official plans may refer to any or none of these criteria.
Estonian Wideband Infrastructure is a project undertaken by Estonia to make 100 Mbit/s wideband internet accessible to every citizen of Estonia by 2015. The development project will be supervised by the Estonian Broadband Development Foundation, which was founded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL) on 11 August 2009. The total cost of the EstWin project is estimated to be 6 billion Estonian kroons, a quarter of which is expected to come from the structural funds of European Union. This makes EstWin the biggest project ever signed between the public and private sectors of Estonia.
The Global Connectivity Index (GCI) is a guide for policy makers and industry leaders to develop a roadmap to the digital economy. The GCI has evolved, by increasing the number of nations tracked in its rankings and constantly strengthening the methodology and research standards it employs. The growth of the GCI’s database, since the first Index was published in 2014, offers practical insights and recommendations for policymakers on what it takes to succeed in the digital economy.
The Malta Information Technology Agency is a Maltese government agency under the Office of the Prime Minister. MITA manages the implementation of IT programmes in Government to enhance public service delivery and provides the infrastructure needed to execute ICT services to Government. MITA is also responsible to propagate further use of ICT in society and economy and to promote and deliver programmes to enhance ICT education and the use of ICT as a learning tool.
The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) monitors Europe's overall digital performance and tracks the progress of EU countries regarding their digital competitiveness. On annual basis, it monitors the performance of member states in digital connectivity, digital skills, online activity and digital public services in order to assess the state of digitalization of each member state as well as to identify areas requiring priority investment and action.