GO Hosts the 30th TeleForum Meeting in Malta

“GO has already invested over €40 million in its national Fibre-To-The-Home network. The project which commenced in 2019 has been proceeding at a very good rate and to date, over 190,000 homes and businesses have been covered with the new FTTH network. This means that 55% of Malta and Gozo are enjoying the fastest broadband speeds, over the latest technology.”

This was announced by Ayrton Caruana, Chief Service Operations Officer at GO in his presentation on behalf of GO during the 30th TeleForum meeting held in Malta between the 8th and 10th of June, which was organised and hosted by GO.

‘TeleForum’, the Forum for Telecom Operators of Small States, was established in 2000 by telecommunication operators in small countries to share their experiences, their challenges, to undertake group initiatives and to lobby for common interests.

In his presentation, Mr Caruana outlined the technology infrastructure that is operated by GO, the company’s current investment in securing reliable connections with mainland Europe and beyond, as well as the challenges being encountered with the laying of fibre infrastructure in Maltese roads, pavements, and buildings.

“GO has always been one of the prime investors in Malta’s connectivity because we always believed that a growing economy depends mostly on a reliable and robust communication infrastructure. Notwithstanding the challenges that our teams have to face every day such as shortage in skilled resources, the need for multiple permits, road closures, regular damage on duct infrastructure, and the difficulty in sourcing certain tools and materials, we remain steadfast in our commitment to complete this national project. In fact, GO increased its FTTH rollout rate by 57% in the past 3 years, added Mr Caruana.

TeleForum encourages initiatives such as knowledge sharing, consultations, training, pooling of resources, and discussions on the legal, regulatory, technical, and commercial environment of the telecommunications industry in small states.

“All participating members are in the business of building connections. Connections between people, businesses, and increasingly machines. Living through the pandemic highlighted the importance of digital connectivity and the role all of us play in enabling those connections. To me it also highlighted the importance of physical connections between people to maintain the fabric of our society/ our communities. We are proud to have had the opportunity to host the first physical event since the pandemic hit here in Malta,’ said Nikhil Patil, CEO at GO. ‘It provided an excellent opportunity to bring together like-minded individuals who also share similar challenges that are characteristic of small states. TeleForum not only presented us with a platform for debate but it also gave us the opportunity to showcase the beauty and strengths of the Maltese islands,” added Mr Patil.

The TeleForum meeting is organised by Joe Busietta, consultant to the Forum, with the assistance of the hosting party and is funded by sponsors, which this year included IFG Consulting Europe, Telavox, Elisa Polystar, Omnitele, Spikeelabs, Salesforce, Nokia, Sinch, Cherry & White, Sofrecom, iMovo and BMIT Technologies.

The participating telecom operators hail from Cape Verde, Andorra, Alande Islands, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Jersey, Isle of Man, Monaco, Guernsey, Liechtenstein, Greenland, Luxembourg, Iceland and Suriname.