Melita’s analogue reception service will be discontinued on April 17 as part of an exercise to release frequencies for continuous improvement and advancement of communication services, the company said. 

It said in a statement the main aim of this exercise was to increase capacities and speeds that catered for the ever-increasing demand for broadband.

Freeing up analogue frequencies would allow the company to keep expanding gigabit internet across the Maltese islands, chief technology officer Simon Montanaro said.

In November, Melita launched Gigapower - gigabit internet for homes and businesses in St Julians, Sliema and Valletta. Melita is now rolling out the 1 Gbps or 1,000 Mbps internet service to parts of Swieqi, Attard, Ta’ Xbiex, Gzira and more.

“This will keep Malta at the forefront of digital technology and further improve reliability of home internet and deliver faster speeds”, head of marketing Mireille Muscat said.

All Maltese channels stopped broadcasting in analogue with the advent of free-to-air digital terrestrial TV back in 2011. Melita started its transition from analogue to digital 10 years ago and is now in the process of transferring the few remaining analogue connections to digital services.

All those subscribed to Melita’s analogue reception service, (television transmission without box) whether for their main television set or an additional one, were invited to get a digital box at no additional cost, and users would enjoy more than 40 channels including all RAI and Mediaset Channels as well as all time favourites: LA 5, Discovery, and kids’ channel Boomerang.

All analogue users including those whose analogue service is currently not officially registered with Melita, should call tel: 2727 9977 between 9am and 6pm, Monday-Friday to claim their box and to start benefitting from many more TV channels and better TV quality.

No penalties would apply in the case of customers wishing to upgrade from a non-official or non-registered analogue service.