NEWS | Wednesday, 18 February 2009

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James Debono
The telephone directory might well be the most consulted book in Malta, probably as ubiquitous as the Bible in each household.
But this could change if the Malta Communications Authority decides to scrap the tradition which first saw Telemalta, and later Maltacom, publish directories in the past decades.
The fateful decision will be taken in the next few months, Communications Minister Austin Gatt revealed in a reply to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia.
Farrugia deems the publication of the directory necessary because many elderly people do not have access to the online directory that is still updated by Go plc, Maltacom’s successor.
Five years after the publication of the latest telephone directory in 2004, Malta still lacks a comprehensive list of telephone numbers.
A revised telephone directory should have been published in 2007 – three years after the latest edition – but the entry of new operators in the telephony sector has delayed its publication.
In 2002 the Malta Communications Authority had obliged Maltacom to publish a directory and to issue a revised edition every three years. A directory was published in 2004 but five years later no new edition of the directory has yet been issued.
Austin Gatt explained that the entry of new operators has forced the Malta Communications Authority to revise its 2002 decision. “In the coming months the MCA will start a consultation on universal service obligations to establish whether a directory should be published.”
If the MCA deems the publication of a directory necessary it will then decide on its format and which operator will be responsible for its publication. Go still keeps an updated online edition which also includes numbers of subscribers of other operators.
Yet this option is not available to people who have no access to the internet. According to Jean Pierre Farrugia, the age-divide in the IT sector means that many elderly people have no access to the directory.

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