More than half of respondents in a Malta Communications Authority survey on consumer perceptions based on their experience in purchasing telecommunication bundles spend more than €50 per month on access fees.

The survey is carried at two-year intervals.

A total 52% of the 847 respondents with a bundle subscription that know their expenditure said this exceeded €50.

This is 21 percentage points higher than reported in 2017.

An additional 41% of the 74% of respondents who knew what their bundle cost reported an expense of between €30 and €49.99, 11 percentage points less than was reported in 2017. 

When it comes to how expensive the bundle product is perceived to be, 35% of respondents that are bundle subscribers said this is expensive (5 percentage points less than in 2017) while 60% consider it reasonable (18 percentage points higher than in 2017). Another 4% of respondents subscribed to a bundle did not answer. 

Strong take-up of bundles, mainly triple-play 

A total 94% of all survey respondents said they have a bundle subscription with 39% having triple-play subscription. Another 36% said they opted for a quad-play offer consisting of mobile telephony alongside the electronic communications services. Meanwhile, 15% subscribed to a dual-play option bundle. 

The proportion of respondents on a bundle subscription has gone up consistently over the years, particularly as the local stand-alone line-up dwindled, the MCA said. 

The MCA survey found that 65% of respondents with a bundle subscription described single billing as “a convenient and positive feature” of bundles.

Another 43% of respondents with a bundle subscription said the availability of discounts and promotional offers was another main reason for their selection of a bundle. 

High satisfaction levels 

A total 83% of survey respondents said they were generally satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of service of their bundle subscription. This was eight percentage points more than in 2017. 

Five per cent of respondents with a bundle subscription deemed their quality of service to be unsatisfactory, while another 13% were indifferent on the quality-of-service aspect. 

Frequent disconnections and billing issues were mentioned prominently by respondents expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of service. 

Meanwhile, 87% of respondents who experienced a fault with their bundle subscription expressed satisfaction with the level of fault resolution measures provided by their operator. 

Only 5% of survey respondents with a bundle subscription switched service provider in the two years prior to the survey date. This is three percentage points more than what was recorded in the 2017 survey. 

Survey data also shows that few respondents would actually switch their bundle subscription from their current service provider if monthly access fees were to go up by 10%.

Nearly half of respondents - 47% - said that, in the event of a 10% increase in price, they would keep their current subscription. However, 31% would switch to a new service provider. 

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