Figures released by the National Statistics Office show that the rate of internet subscriptions per 100 population reached 20.1, up from the 18.0 per 100 population recorded in the same period last year.
The number of narrow band subscribers reached 12.3 per 100 population, while those making use of the broadband system reached 7.8 per 100 population.
Cable subscriptions and satellite dish licences
In the period under review, cable television subscriptions edged upwards by 3,971 or 4.1 per cent to 101,730 from 97,759 in the second quarter last year. As a result, cable television subscriptions rose to 25.4 per 100 population from 24.6 a year earlier.
In the same quarter, the number of satellite dish receiver licences fell by 523 or 3.2 per cent to 15,580 over the same period last year.
Telephone communication
The number of mobile telephone subscriptions went up by 21,216 or 7.7 per cent over the same period last year. Consequently, these amounted to 74.0 per 100 population compared to 69.1 per 100 population a year earlier.
The number of contract-based mobile telephone subscriptions reached 21,870, an increase of 968 or 4.6 per cent over the first quarter this year.
The number of card plan mobile telephone subscriptions reached 274,502, an increase of 4,517 or 1.7 per cent in the second quarter over the first quarter this year.
In the second quarter this year, the number of minutes consumed to mobile networks amounted to over 29.3 million minutes while those directed to the fixed line network amounted to around 8.1 million minutes.
This signified an increase of 14.7 per cent and 21.2 per cent respectively in minutes consumed in the second quarter over the first quarter this year.
Falls of 3.8 per cent and 85.3 per cent respectively were recorded in the number of SMS and the number of MMS messages in the second quarter, when compared to the first quarter this year.
In the second quarter this year, the number of fixed telephone lines dropped by 0.3 per cent over the same quarter last year, to 207,152.
In the quarter under review, the number of minutes used in fixed line telephony on local calls declined by around 43.7 million or 15.6 per cent, when compared to the first quarter this year.
Most of the recorded fall was in the use of residential fixed telephone lines for local call purposes.
A fall of over 0.5 million minutes or 0.9 per cent was also recorded in the use of business fixed line telephones for local calls.
The amount in minutes taken up by international calls from fixed line telephones increased by around 0.2 million minutes or 5.1 in the second quarter this year, when compared to the previous quarter.
While the number of minutes consumed by residential subscribers for international calls fell by around 0.07 million minutes or 5.1 per cent, the number of minutes used by business subscribers for international calls rose by around 0.3 million minutes or 10.9 per cent.
In the period under review, the number of international calls from fixed telephone lines increased by 1.4 per cent and 12.1 per cent respectively, when compared to the first quarter this year.
In the second quarter this year, the use of VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) reached around 5.7 million minutes, an increase of around 3.3 million minutes over the same period last year.
At 4,280, the number of pager subscriptions declined by 5.1 per cent over the second quarter last year.