Five years have passed since the first mobile call between former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami and President Emeritus Censu Tabone officially inaugurated Go Mobile’s network on 1 December 2000.

Since then, Go Mobile has grown into a sound, stable company and has considerably strengthened its market position with a share of over 48 per cent.

Speaking about these achievements, Go Mobile chairman Sonny Portelli said the company has gone from strength to strength and this year will record yet another increase in profits when compared to the previous year. He said the company’s subscriber base is now in excess of 155,000 customers, and is set to grow even further.

“We thank all our customers who have placed their faith in our company. We are now looking forward to the new challenges, which include the adoption of new technologies like 3G and all that will follow,” Mr Portelli said.

He said one of the cornerstones of Go Mobile’s resounding success was its customer care, and the fact that since day one the company invested in a 24x7 call centre facility and a network of Customer Contact Centres, which will soon include a new outlet in Bisazza Street, Sliema.

Mr Portelli said Go Mobile has offered free calls to its Customer Call Centre (146) for both pre-paid and contract customers since the first day it started operations in December 2000. This service, together with the pre-paid credit check facility (1232) have always been offered free of charge.

Mr Portelli added that Go Mobile really and truly brought the mobile phone within the reach of one and all: “Go Mobile popularized the mobile phone as a means of communication by slashing tariffs by more than 60 per cent. Go Mobile was the first to launch GPRS, Wi-Fi and wireless Internet.”

Go Mobile has invested more than $55 million in state-of-the-art GSM, GPRS, Wi-Fi infrastructure and, despite an aggressive amortization policy, managed to become profitable within 17 months from launch. Go Mobile was recently granted 3G and Broadband Wireless Access licences.

EDGE

Go Mobile’s chairman announced that the company is upgrading its nationwide GPRS network to EDGE, an exercise that will be completed by the end of January.

EDGE is a new broadband technology that gives faster data throughput, meaning that customers can download and upload data and content from a mobile phone or device at higher speeds. The speed achieved with EDGE is approximately four times faster than current speeds.

“With this new technology, Go Mobile is the first mobile operator in Malta to offer the possibility of streaming video clips on a mobile phone. EDGE improves wireless web browsing as well as e-mail and Intranet access. The investment in EDGE ensures that Go Mobile offers the fastest nationwide mobile Internet access in Malta. This is just the beginning of high-speed data access as next year Go Mobile will be launching 3G,” Mr Portelli said. Go Mobile is also reducing its charges for wireless Internet and data access by up to 75 per cent, with a rate of 3 cents per 60KB.

Lm2 top-up

Go Mobile also announced that it has launched a new Lm2 top-up facility with a 10-day time-window. This top-up is available on Go Mobile’s web portal My Go (www.go.com.mt/ mygo), via Go Mobile’s Customer Contact Centres and directly from one’s mobile phone (given that a subscriber has upgraded his or her SIM card to Smart SIM). A Lm2 top-up card will soon be available from Go Mobile Customer Contact Centres and authorised dealers.

Christmas offers

Meanwhile, Go Mobile is launching several new offers to mark its fifth anniversary and the Christmas festive season. Customers who activate a new line and top it up before 28 December will get Lm10 free talk-time. Lm5 free talk-time is automatically added to a new account upon the first top-up, and Lm1 is added every month between January and May.

Moreover, Go Mobile is also offering its contract customers an all-day reduced rate of 5 cents per minute for calls to Go Mobile numbers during the month of December.

Speaking about the recent Talk4less offer for pre-paid customers, Mr Portelli said this proved a resounding success and was oversubscribed within a week. Thanks to this offer, Go Mobile pre-paid customers can talk for as long as an hour and pay only for the first minute. The offer applies on all calls to other Go Mobile customers between 8pm and 8am during the week and all day during the weekend. The success was also due to the fact that Go Mobile continued charging on a per second basis even for calls less than a minute.

For further information on these offers call 146 from a Go Mobile line (call is free), 79 222 146 from other networks or visit www.go.com.mt