An increase of 0.7 per cent was recorded in December in the mobile subscription index as the number of mobile telephone subscriptions reached 346,598, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday. Around 15.5 million minutes were consumed in mobile telephone networks, while those directed from mobile to fixed-line networks amounted to around two million minutes.

In December 2006 the mobile communication traffic included around 42.6 million SMSs, 63,135 MMSs, and 13,957 WAPs.

The fixed telephony subscriptions index increased by 0.1 per cent in the month under review. Minutes consumed in fixed-line telephony on local calls amounted to around 46.1 million minutes, with some 33.9 million minutes from residential subscriptions and the rest from business premises subscriptions. International fixed-telephony traffic amounted to 150,484 calls, equivalent to around 0.5 million minutes.

In the month under review VOIP minutes were estimated at around 1.0 million. In absolute terms pager subscriptions stood at 4,768 as end of December 2006.

The internet subscription index rose by 0.1 per cent during the month. Narrowband and broadband subscriptions were recorded at 58,531 and 36,709 respectively.

In the month under review, the cable and digital television subscription index rose by 0.5 per cent, reflecting a drop in analogue cable and an increase in digital technology use. In absolute terms, these subscriptions totalled 112,676.