Updated 5.10pm

Customers of telecoms company Melita have been told the cost of their broadband connection will rise from next month.  

On Thursday, Melita customers were informed their monthly fibre broadband tariff would rise by up to €3.50 from September and that their existing price plans would no longer be available. 

The company said it was upgrading the speeds of its packages, with customers being told their download speeds would rise by up to 250 Mbps, according to emails from the company shown to Times of Malta.  

The company did not offer customers the option of remaining on their existing price plans, according to the emails which included price rises of up to €3.50 per month for ‘Flexi Bundle’ packages and €3 for 'Telephony Fixed Unlimited Bundle’ tariffs.  

It is not clear at this stage whether other price plans have also been affected by the price increases. 

One customer affected by the move said although the €3.50 per month increase might not seem like much, “it adds up,” stressing he had not been given a choice about the change.  

"The point is this is being forced on me. Suddenly my contract is changing... there isn’t the option to keep my existing price and speed,” said Alexander Farrugia, adding he had not been unhappy with the speed of his internet connection. 

Farrugia said that when he had contacted the company, he had been told by a customer service representative that Melita "reserves the right to make amendments to our packages and services, including prices.” 

The price hikes come less than a year after Melita said it had removed a clause from its contracts allowing it to raise prices midway through an agreement based on measures of inflation such as the consumer price index 

The company announced the move after the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) restricted the clause to new contracts of six months beginning in 2024.

In a statement announcing the restriction in December, the MCA said it had “serious concerns" about the inflationary clause it warned could lead to "unpredictable" price hikes for customers. 

Melita: prices will rise by €1.50 to €3.50

On Thursday afternoon, Melita said customers currently on connections of 150, 300 and 500 Mbps would be upgraded to speeds of either 500 or 750 Mpbs, with prices rising by €1.50 to €3.50. 

“While various factors can influence pricing decisions, there are currently no indications of further price adjustments," a spokesperson for the company said.  

“Customers who do not wish to accept the new packages are reminded that they have the option to stop without penalties within 30 days of being notified.” 

'Subscribers can cancel without penalties'

Meanwhile, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) said that “changes in contract terms, such as the price increases being implemented by Melita, do not require MCA’s approval and cannot be restricted by the MCA.” 

It stressed that unless contractual changes “exclusively benefit the end-users, are purely administrative, or are imposed by national or European law, subscribers must be provided with a 30-day advance notification”. 

The authority said that during the 30 days, subscribers could terminate their contract "without incurring any penalty fees."

It added that subscribers who decide to cancel their contract after being informed of the change “are entitled to a refund of any refundable deposits and unutilised advance payments made for the subscribed services.

"This applies whether the subscriber decides to unsubscribe, switch services, or change to a new service provider."