Fate of telephone directory to be sealed next month
James Debono
The decision whether Malta will have a new edition of the telephone directory will be taken next month, a spokesperson for the Malta Communications Authority has confirmed.
Five years after the publication of the last telephone directory in 2004, Malta still lacks a comprehensive printed 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.
A spokesperson for the MCA confirmed that the authority would be publishing the Universal Service Obligations on Electronic Communication Services next month. This will include a decision on the fate of the telephone directory.
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.
But the entry of new operators had forced the Malta Communications Authority to revise its 2002 decision.
A recent survey commissioned by the Malta Communications Authority showed that the 118 enquiry service is used more than both the printed and online directories.
The survey showed that on a monthly basis, 20.8% use the enquiry service, 15.3% use the printed directory and 8.3% used the online directory.
The issue was also raised in parliament last year by Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia who expressed concern that elderly people will be the worst to be affected if the printed edition is abolished.
One of the options being considered by the MCA is to provide a number of free calls through which people could make telephone enquiries without paying for them.
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