Top-level Infrastructure: Overview 

Malta has created a sophisticated ICT infrastructure that global capital and business require.

* eGovernment services rank 2nd in EU of 27.

* Above EU average broadband access: 66% internet connections broadband

* International connectivity excellent: 2 satellite stations; 2 submarine fibre optic cables & more planned

* SmartCity Malta - $300 investment in knowledge economy park

* Fully-liberalised communications market: 3 competitive mobile operators

* Competitive choice of suppliers/services

* ICT regional centre of excellence – Microsoft, Oracle & CISCO training centres

* Robust water & electricity supplies – resource planning covers also 1million tourists a year

* Postal & courier services excellent – mostly a 3-day delivery to UK, regular mail.

The Islands today are fast becoming a knowledge economy satellite in the Mediterranean, unique for their connectivity, level of IT expertise and range and quality of ICT services.

Malta’s ICT sophistication is evident in such projects as SmartCity Malta. This $300m initiative, the first overseas expansion of SmartCity Dubai, gives a fillip to the Islands as a knowledge-economy cluster. The Islands ICT infrastructure has played a key role in the growth of sectors such as financial services, specialist software development and i-Gaming.

Malta’s excellent communications infrastructure is also attracting leading IT centres of excellence and training. CISCO, Microsoft and Oracle are among the global brands to have opted for Malta as a regional training base. Their presence confirms Malta’s leading position as an ICT hub in the region and also encourages greater numbers of Maltese to take up an ICT career, thereby building up the human capital skills of the Islands.

Malta has consistently high rankings among EU countries in most major indicators of ICT infrastructure and service provision. The latest EU report (2007) in conjunction with CapGemini placed Malta second only to Austria in its sophistication and level of provision of eGoverment services.

Certainly, the Maltese government has invested heavily over the past decade to providing the ICT backbone the private sector requires. Malta also has a liberalised communications sector which is boosting competition among providers and driving down costs. The regulator, the Malta Communications Authority, has a robust and steadying influence on the market. The arrival of numerous Voice over IP players in the market and new services from the former state incumbent telco have leveraged up to a 77 per cent reduction in recent years on some international, voice calls. The Authority ensures a fair and level playing field, especially in burgeoning sectors such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and mobile services.

Traditional infrastructure is equally important, and electricity and water supplies, despite the Islands lack of resources, are stable and efficient. Malta has years of experience in coping with surges in demands, such as during peaks in tourist arrivals. The infrastructure copes with tourist arrivals of 1 million or so each year; 2.5 times resident population numbers.

Given the climate, geographic location and the demands of tourism, the Islands have an adequate, regular supply of potable water from reverse osmosis with some areas still served by ground-water aquifers. In fact, the Islands have pioneered reverse osmosis from sea water, and, while this might a more expensive method of production, it has proved reliable.