In just seven years, Maltese mobile operator GO Mobile managed to secure a sizeable market share by reaching the 180,000 mark, thus making it the fastest-growing mobile operator on the island.

This was stated by recently appointed Chief of Mobile Operations Norbert Prihoda, who explained how GO Mobile not only managed to break through an established monopoly but also continued building on its success year after year, continuing to add to its core customer base and reaching figures that rival operators certainly would not have forecast when the company was set up in 2000.

“In seven years of operation GO Mobile gained close to 50 per cent of the rapidly expanding Maltese mobile communications market. We have also been the driving force behind a host of widely affordable innovative applications and services. At present the company’s subscriber base exceeds 180,000 customers,” Mr Prihoda said.

Reaching the 180,000 figure is a big cornerstone for the company which forms part of the GO group, an achievement that Mr Prihoda says he is confident the team will continue building upon in the upcoming year.

The figures released periodically by the National Statistics Office back Mr Prihoda’s statements and confirm GO Mobile as the fastest-growing mobile operator in Malta.

In fact, the period between November 2006 and November 2007 registered an increase of 17,646 in GO Mobile’s customer base, with the numbers going up from 162,354 to 180,000.

The advent of GO Mobile on the Maltese market was widely welcomed as a necessary measure in order to introduce an element of choice for local mobile users. Despite its relative youth when compared to international giants, the company did not take long to catch up in terms of services and value for money, even going so far as to break boundaries vis-à-vis prices and technology.

“GO Mobile was the first local mobile telephone operator to launch Wi-Fi access in selected hotspots in Malta and Gozo. It was also the only company to introduce EDGE, the precursor to 3G and HSDPA, thus making available services (like TV on your Mobile), which are only available on the 3G network to our competitors. Even as regards 3G and HSDPA, GO Mobile led the market and to date is the only Maltese company to offer the technology all over Malta and Gozo both indoors and outdoors,” Mr Prihoda said.