This morning, GO experienced an outage that primarily affected customers using its 2G and 3G mobile voice calling service. Mobile data provision was also affected in some areas, meaning that customers who are avid mobile internet users were also possibly temporarily disconnected.

We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. We appreciate that such outages can cause disruption and frustration amongst our esteemed clients and remain fully committed to ensure that such downtime is kept to the bare minimum.

The outage was caused by an unforeseen technical issue. The outage was observed from around 0730 until 09.00hrs when all services were fully restored.

We shall be reaching out directly to all our affected customers with due compensation, throughout the coming days.

GO Statement Following Today’s Service Outage

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11756" src="http://cms.go.com.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Guide.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="197" />
Keeping you connected to the content you love
GO has kicked off the first phase of an important TV migration exercise which will see thousands of TV customers wake up to a totally enhanced TV user experience.
This enhanced experience starts with a fresh new TV home screen featuring a more user-friendly layout which is predominantly image driven. It provides immediate access to one’s favourite TV content from one simple screen. This development is being undertaken by GO in a bid to deliver an enhanced customer experience and to give customers more content at their fingertips.
‘For the past year, our engineers have worked round the clock to deliver a whole new TV experience for our customers. Our focus has remained that of connecting people to the content they love, and what better way of doing this than investing in our systems to deliver a platform that can support increased interactivity, push content based on users’ preferences, and which can also deliver TV content over mobile devices at the click of a button,’ said Nikhil Patil, CEO at GO. ‘What’s even better is that we have replicated this experience on our TV Anywhere APP that allows our customers to enjoy their most favourite TV content outside the comfort of their home, without consuming data from their bundle,’ he continued.
Chris Attard, Senior Manager, TV Systems at GO explained that GO has been simultaneously managing two TV networks for a number of years. Its digital terrestrial network, more commonly known as DTTV, will be slowly phased out over the coming year, but through further investment, its IPTV network, branded GO interactive TV, will continue to deliver rich content to esteemed customers by means of this latest upgrade. ‘TV technology is a fast-changing game and we felt that now is the right time to re-invent ourselves, invest and re-confirm GO as the TV leader in Malta,” he explained.
The main features offered by GO’s IPTV platform remain centred on interactivity such as program restart, pause-live capabilities, and a network DVR which means that customers can record multiple channels at the same time, amongst a host of other enriched features.
“The system is intelligent enough to capture and recognise what the users are watching and will eventually start providing them with recommendations on what content they are likely to love the most. Furthermore, the user also has the ability to create multiple profiles directly to get TV recommendations that reflect the users’ TV preferences. ,” added Chris Attard.
“We have been listening to our customers to understand what they want and how best they want our product delivered. Of course, this would never have been possible without GO’s heavy investment in true fibre technology which enables ultra-speeds and reliability, as well as 4G network which adds the portability aspect,” said Nikhil Patil.
“Now with the network enablers in place, we can push the next generation applications to our customers, starting from a rich TV experience in terms of choice of content, modern environment and content quality. Indeed, I can safely say that when it comes to features and functionality, GO has the edge and remains unrivalled in its service offering,” added Nikhil Patil.
This upgrade will be undertaken over the course of a number of weeks. Customers will be upgraded in difference phases in order to ensure as smooth a migration as possible and will be notified in advance of their respective migration dates.
For further information on this new TV experience, please visit <a href="http://www.go.com.mt/gotv">www.go.com.mt/gotv</a>

GO TV customers enjoy an enhanced TV experience with new FREE upgrade.

<img class="wp-image-11684 aligncenter" src="http://cms.go.com.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GoCares-Pizza-Activity2019128-1-1024x719.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="719" />
GO Employees Support <a href="https://www.autismparentsassociation.com/">Autism Parents Association </a>To Promote Inclusiveness
GO employees, in collaboration with the Autism Parents Association (APA), recently hosted a fun pizza making activity at Tal-Kaptan Restaurant in Qawra. An invitation to the event was also extended to all GO’s employees’ children between the ages of 5 and 12, making the event an opportunity to promote the importance of inclusiveness.
 
Equipped with an apron, a chef’s hat and all the necessary ingredients, the children, helped by Tal-Kaptan Restaurant’s pizzaiolo, created their very own favourite pizza. As they waited for their pizzas to bake, the children were entertained by a magician who was specially invited for the event. GO freebies were also distributed as a souvenir of the fun day.
 
The Autism Parents Association is a non-profit voluntary organisation designed to assist families with children who have autism. "We chose to collaborate with APA in planning out this event, so as to raise awareness about autism and advocate inclusiveness and collaboration among the children”, said Josephine Grima Senior Manager Human Resources who also leads the GO Cares team. A raffle was also organised to raise funds for the APA, with hampers made up of Maltese products, generously donated by one of GO’s employees.
 
Thanking the GO Cares Team for their support, Emma McEwen, Secretary of the Autism Parents Association praised the company and its employees for their thoughtful and considerate approach to the children and the parents involved in this event. “The event was extremely well-organised and no details were spared to ensure that all aspects related to the event were suitable for our children. We are truly appreciative of the staff’s dedication and of their efforts to sponsor the cost of the activity. The activity turned out to be a true community event and the children enjoyed a very special experience!”

GO Employees Support Autism Parents Association To Promote Inclusiveness

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11016 aligncenter" src="http://cms.go.com.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/GO-AGM_830.jpg" alt="GO AGM - CEO speech " width="500" height="333" />
12% Increase In GO’s Operating Profit
Investment, Innovation to keep driving GO’s strategy
 

During GO p.l.c’s 21st AGM held earlier today, Chairman, Mohamed Fadhel Kraiem praised the company’s resolve to achieve stronger results and return on investment that continues to add value to the company’s shareholders and the Maltese economy at large. 
“This year’s results and focused strategy confirm GO’s commitment to remain a major player in the growth of Malta’s economy. We recognise GO’s important role in Maltese society not only as a major contributor to economic development but also to ensure Malta’s connection to the rest of the world. Over the past 10 years, we have invested over €240 million and will continue to invest millions more every year to keep delivering the best technologies in the coming years.” 

GO announced that revenues reached €171.8 million during 2018, compared to €166.3 million a year earlier, whilst earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) was recorded at €69.5 million compared to €65.6 million in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 6%. The Group’s operating profit reached €33.1 million, an increase of 12% on the €29.5 million recorded in 2017. A dividend of €0.14 per share, an increase of 7.7% over 2017 was recommended by the Board and approved by the shareholders. 

“For the past year we have focused heavily on three main areas: adding value to our customers’ lives, developing a learning organization and delivering returns to our shareholders, and I am very proud of my team as we continue to make great progress on all fronts. Our considerable investment in our networks and our people, and innovation in our products and services has driven a very positive performance during 2018. Our aim is to ensure long term sustainability while finding opportunities to provide greater returns to our shareholders,” said Nikhil Patil, Chief Executive Officer at GO. 

He explained that 2018 was yet another very positive year for the Group and is the result of a Board with a great vision, and aligned team that is driven and committed to deliver. 

Nikhil Patil explained GO’s major milestones throughout the past financial year, namely continued customer growth in Malta and Cyprus, innovation in GO’s product portfolio and its ongoing investment in technology and its True Fibre rollout, and its mission to strengthen its relationship with customers through robust customer relationship management solutions. 

“GO continued to deliver a strong performance from its core operations, coupled with impressive growth from our data and ICT services through BMIT and Kinetix. Our Cypriot subsidiary, Cablenet, has also proved to be a key contributor to the overall growth. Today, 19% of Group revenue is derived from Cablenet. Cablenet delivered a revenue growth of 8% and an EBITDA growth of 10.5%,” continued Nikhil Patil. 

Reuben Zammit, Chief Financial Officer gave a more in-depth analysis of the Groups Financial performance for 2018. 

GO Annual Report and Financial Statements are available online at www.go.com.mt

GO Holds 21st Annual General Meeting

GO first to have introduced international EU calls and SMSs as part of mobile top-up plans. 

As of today, GO customers can stay connected with family and friends in the EU with increased peace of mind with lowered rates on international fixed and mobile call rates, as well as SMSs to EU countries. International EU call rates have now been standardised, so rates are the same, irrespective of whether calls are made from a traditional fixed line, or from a mobile. New lower rates also apply on SMSs sent to EU countries. This follows the coming into force of a new EU regulation that applies to all EU operators. 

‘These regulations that came into force today apply to standard call and SMS rates, however at GO, we proactively focus on the value added to our customers. In fact, we recently revamped our more affordable Smart and Smart plus plans to include EU calls and SMS as part of the bundles provided. These start from just €5 a month for 100 minutes and 100 SMSs to all local and EU destinations. We are proud of the fact that we are the first and only operator on the market that offers such benefits as we fully appreciate the importance of staying connected with peace of mind,’ said Antonio Ivankovic, Chief Commercial Officer at GO. 

The EU regulation stipulates a capping of €0.22 (including VAT) for fixed and mobile calls, and €0.07(including VAT) for SMS to EU countries. 

‘We are continuously reviewing our mobile plans to seek new ways of adding value to our customers. Revised international and roaming rates, coupled with our ‘Data Boom’ advantage, ensures that our customers, whether in Malta or abroad, remain seamlessly connected, in every way possible,’ concluded Ivankovic.

GO lowers call and text rates to the EU

<img src="http://cms.go.com.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GO_True_Fibre_Press_Conference.jpg" alt="GO True Fibre Press Conference" width="900" height="601" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-9995" />
 
GO embarks on a €100 million investment programme – the largest investor in Malta’s digital infrastructure. 

During a press conference held this morning in the presence of the Honourable Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muscat, GO confirmed its commitment to being the largest investor in Malta’s state-of-the-art digital infrastructure. 

‘At GO, we believe that the only way to future proof Malta and to be able to handle the phenomenal growth in data, is to invest in a state-of-the-art, fibre-to-the-home network. Simply put, a fibre network delivers data to you at the speed of light. There is nothing faster in science today. GO is the only company in Malta that delivers a true fibre network right up to your living room,’ said Nikhil Patil, CEO at GO plc. 

To date, more than 85,000 homes have the opportunity to experience true-fibre technology. “We are working round the clock to expedite rollout of true fibre so that every house and business can benefit from the best technology on the market. We expect at least 100,000 homes, the equivalent of approximately 50% of Malta and Gozo, to be covered by the end of 2019, with full nationwide coverage by 2024,’ said Nikhil Patil.  “We are very proud of our achievements so far, considering the complexities involved in rolling out such a network. This is a massive exercise that requires meticulous coordination across various government entities, contractors, vendors and other parties,’ he explained.  ‘Our investment does not stop here. We continuously strive for innovation. In fact, for the past months, our engineers have worked closely with an international vendor to develop the Smart Hub – a box that combines the power of true fibre, with our 4.5G mobile network to ensure that your true fibre connection never fails,’ concluded Patil. 

GO remains committed to ensure that Malta’s digital infrastructure fully supports the country’s vision.  Initiated in 2016, this long-term project is aimed at ensuring that Malta is ready for the technologies of the future. 

Prime Minister Muscat said, “Communications services are the backbone of today’s thriving economy. They underpin every sector, every industry. It is communications services and the infrastructure that drive innovation. Our vision can only be attained if all stakeholders pull the same rope and harness every opportunity to push Malta forward. GO has a long-standing history in its contribution to Malta’s economy. Not only has GO taken these opportunities, but it is now creating opportunities for further growth.” 

Malta’s Prime Minister said, “Today we have witnessed the complexities behind the laying of true fibre technology and what this can offer. This is significant, not only because it caters for our growing demands today, but it is a technology that is setting Malta up for the next 100 years.’ The Prime Minister explained that Malta is also on track to be one of the first EU Member States to achieve full true fibre coverage and to reach the Digital Agenda targets. 

‘We have created a digital economy that we should be proud of. Malta has been at the forefront of innovation in this regard. We have been a prime example, setting the standards across Europe in many cases. Most Government services are now available online – at the click of a button. We are attracting foreign investment to our shores; we are setting the right policies and strategies for Malta to become the blockchain island and AI centre of excellence; we have created the right environment for emerging industries. This would not be possible if it were not for a resilient and reliable communications infrastructure; for the continuous private investment and continued close collaboration between government and the private industry,’ he continued. 

Muscat thanked GO for having always supported Governments vision of being at the forefront of technology and innovation. ‘GO has never shied away from investing in its infrastructure to ensure that our homes and businesses enjoy the best technologies available,’ said Muscat. 

“Our confidence to strive for excellence comes from the comfort in the knowledge that companies such as GO are there to support our endeavours and efforts to take Malta to the next level”, concluded Muscat. 

GO invites everyone to visit it’s stand at the upcoming Malta Robotics Olympiad between the 10th and 12th May at MFCC, to experience the power of true fibre.

GO – the only operator offering true fibre technology straight to your living room

“Although we have a very strong telecommunications and IT infrastructure, we also realise that one of the ways for us to continue driving innovation is to partner with dynamic entrepreneurs in the digital domain. We also want to be among the first corporates to join the budding community of angel investors in Malta.  This is what spurred the idea of investing in local and international startups.”

This was stated by Nikhil Patil, CEO of GO during the launch of ‘GO Ventures’, GO’s €2 million Tech Startup Fund at Valletta Contemporary in the presence of the Honourable Mr Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation and other stakeholders in the Maltese innovation and tech start-up ecosystem.

GO announced plans to launch it’s €2million Tech Startup Fund during last October’s Delta Summit. These past months have been dedicated towards setting up the governance and logistical structures for the Fund, establishing connections and meeting potential candidates to understand their expectations better and how GO can assist them.

“We are pleasantly surprised with the feedback we have received so far.  It is encouraging indeed and confirms that there is a huge demand for this project. In fact, once we announced this Fund last October, things immediately started shaking up and since then, we have been actively following up on a number of pitches we received and started discussing a few interesting prospects,” added Mr Patil.

Stefan Briffa, who is leading the GO Ventures project, gave a high-level overview of how the Tech Startup Fund will work.   He explained that the GO Ventures investment package being made available includes cash, spacious co-working space in B’Kara, GO’s full suite of telecom and cloud services, access to markets and networks and mentoring. He added that GO Ventures will focus mainly on startups in the fields of artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, internet of things, cybersecurity, blockchain, fintech and related areas. “We aim to start building our portfolio with a number of initial investments during the course of 2019,” he concluded.

“Today, Malta offers many services to startups, however, they face a common problem in finding enough local sources of financing and investment. The ‘GO Ventures’ Tech Startup Fund will help address this challenge and by working with like-minded partners, GO wants to help foster a Maltese ecosystem of investment in innovation,” explained Nikhil Patil.

 “Most importantly, we want to lend our experience in growing businesses by investing in startups that demonstrate tangible potential in areas that are of interest to our business.   We also see this project as a vehicle to deliver yet more value to our shareholders and stakeholders,” he concluded.

Addressing the event, Hon Silvio Schembri added “As a government we shall continue with this drive to empower our nation through all relevant aspects, enhancing our people’s intrinsic appetite for innovation, which as we have discerned thus far, if encouraged and fully supported, will further contribute to Malta’s unique competitive advantage.  The €2million Go Ventures Start-up Tech Fund will serve as a springboard for start-up companies that are still identifying ways to implement their digital projects related to new emergent technologies.”

“In our drive to be at the forefront of this digital revolution, it is also essential that the private sector becomes a protagonist in attracting both the foreign talent to support technological development, as well as help nurture and retain home-grown talent. I augur GO for their forward-thinking stance that is setting a new benchmark of how Maltese companies can be direct participants in, and benefit from new technology initiatives. I look forward to seeing start-ups benefit from this start-up tech fund which will in return contribute to Malta’s thriving digital economy” added Hon Schembri.

€2 million GO Ventures Fund for Tech Startups

GO recently collaborated with MCAST on a co-lecturing seminar for first-year BA Business Enterprise Degree students within the Institute of Business Management and Commerce (IBMC).

 

This seminar was held on the initiative of course lecturer Thomas J. Dimech as part of a series of co-lectures that bring the industry closer to education, with the aim that students get both the academic and the industrial perspective in practice, in their fields of study.

 

This co-lecture, the third in its series, focused on Managing Quality at the place of work and following an introduction on the topic by MCAST Quality Assurance Director Ing. Pierre Dalmas and Quality Manager Chev. Frank Gatt, the lecture was delivered by Mr. Arthur Azzopardi, Chief Officer GO Business at GO.

 

“At GO, we are very proud to have had this opportunity to collaborate with MCAST to enhance the students’ educational experience. Our contribution will hopefully contribute towards further development of education, students and the future workforce,” said Arthur Azzopardi.

 

The topics discussed included Quality Management Systems, the Culture of Quality, Quality Measuring tools, Practical Implementation of Quality at Functional level, Methods of Inspection and Quality at Source, Perception and Quality Gaps. All speakers concluded by highlighting the importance to remain close to the industry and the relevance of Vocational Education, emphasising that sharing industry experience with IBMC students is only way to prepare students adequately for the place of work.

 

The students had the opportunity to understand the relevance of these subjects within GO which has been an established Communications Services Provider in the Business to Business Segment and also the Business to Consumer Segment.

GO Supports MCAST Co-Lecturing Seminar

Today, Friday, BMIT Technologies plc, a subsidiary of GO plc, will be formally listed on the Malta Stock Exchange marking the remarkable success of an IPO, where institutional and general investors subscribed to close to 99 million shares valued at c.€49 million. In a company announcement issued earlier this week, GO plc confirmed that the IPO was over-subscribed 30.8 million shares. "We are truly humbled by the unwavering support and confidence shown in the company. The response to this offering was as overwhelming as it was encouraging, and an affirmation of our ongoing commitment to ensure that our investments bring more value to all stakeholders, in particular, our shareholders," said Nikhil Patil, CEO, GO plc.

 

"This is another milestone in GO's success story which reflects a forward-looking organisation that is building its future growth on strategic investments," added Nikhil. "Such processes allow us to reinvest in areas that will create greater value, both for our shareholders and customers, and ultimately, the economy as a whole," he concluded.

 

The allocation policy is available for viewing at www.go.com.mt, under the investor section.

 

BMIT Technologies plc will commence its trading activity on the regulated main market of the Malta Stock Exchange on Monday 18th February, under the BMIT ticker symbol.

GO concludes a highly successful IPO of BMIT Technologies

GO would like to inform its esteemed customers that with immediate effect, MaltaPay/Mobile Systems Ltd are no longer authorised to collect bill payments or effect Mobile top-ups on behalf of GO Plc. Consequently, the payment and top-up terminals (as seen in this photo) located in various locations around Malta & Gozo should not be used to effect such payments.

Customers can continue to make use of all other payment and top up methods available to them including online payment and top up through GO's website www.go.com.mt or by means of the newly launched GO APP, which can be downloaded through Play Store on Android or the App Store on Apple devices. GO encourages its subscribers to download the APP before the end of January to benefit from an instant 10GB of mobile data for free.

As an alternative method of paying bills or topping up their accounts, customers may also visit one of GO's retail outlets, at Baystreet, B'Kara, PAMA, Paola and Victoria, Gozo or any of the designated exclusive resellers listed hereunder;

Alternately, one can visit one of the GO Exclusive Resellers; Direct Vision - Attard, Audio Images - B'Bugia, Call Zone - Bormla, Top Electronics - Fgura, JLJ - Għaxaq, Telecom - Ħamrun, EPC - Mellieħa, JLJ - M'Scala, Cellefonic - Mosta, KVH - Rabat, Phone Box - San Ġwann, Telecom – San Ġwann, Phone Box - Sliema, Mobics - St. Paul's Bay, Top Electronics - Żebbug, Cellefonic - Żabbar, Direct Vision - Żejtun, Sound & Vision - Victoria, Gozo and Victor's – Xaghra, Gozo.

Customers can also pay bills at Maltapost Branches.

It is important to note that any bill payments effected on MaltaPay/Mobile Systems Ltd terminals, will not be recognized by GO after the 24/01/19.

Notice re Maltapay / Mobile Systems LTD

Over the course of this weekend, GO pulled every string to ensure that its customers suffer the least possible disruption after an unrelated third party contractor accidentally dug through a number of GO's fibre cables in Siggiewi, leaving hundreds of households in Siggiewi and neighbouring localities without broadband, TV, and telephony services.

Despite the difficult working environment and the extreme weather conditions, GO immediately deployed its technical team on site, even bringing in additional subcontractors to expedite the process, who worked non-stop throughout the night and all day Sunday, uncovering pipes and laying new network cables to be able to restore services in the fastest time possible. In fact, the most critical services were restored in under 24 hours.

GO CEO Nikhil Patil expressed his gratitude to all impacted customers for their patience.

"We fully appreciate how critical these services are to our customers and how frustrating it is to them when these are disrupted. We share these frustrations, especially when these are disrupted for reasons well beyond our control. We cannot anticipate these accidents, and therefore cannot plan ahead. So when they do happen, it's all hands on deck to ensure that our valued customers suffer the least."

"Regrettably, we suffer at least two incidents a week that are the result of unrelated 3rd parties, mostly due to construction works. Thankfully, not all are as critical as that experienced this weekend, however this does cost us hundreds of thousands of Euros every year, however of greater concern to us is the inconvenience to our customers," continued Mr Patil.

Such incidents require the input of a dedicated multi-disciplinary team who worked round the clock, to restore services and provide feedback to customers. GO's call centre was in full swing, engaging close to 70 agents who collectively handled over 4700 calls.

"In critical situations such as that experienced over the weekend, we need to quickly assess the situation and identify the best course of action, given the conditions in which we have to work. It is no easy task, but I am very proud of my team and their dedication. I also want to thank our loyal customers for their patience and understanding," said Nikhil Patil.

Over the next couple of days, GO will be reaching out to its impacted customers with a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience caused.

GO engineers work the night to restore services following multiple cable cuts by third-party works

December is an especially demanding month for GO as the annual fundraising event Istrina approaches, which sees the company mobilising a large team of employees, mainly from its technical department to setup the infrastructure required to handle the large volume of calls during the event.
"GO is a private telecommunications company. We are not compelled or obliged to support Istrina. We do it because we really believe in the value that it brings to the community and we want to do our part. Furthermore, the magnitude of Istrina necessitates a particular technical set up. Being the only company serving an end-to-end fibre network, GO is a natural match to service the fund-raisers very demanding technical requirements," said Nikhil Patil, Chief Executive Officer at GO."

"If we had to quantify the value of GO's support in terms of logistics, manpower and the technology provided, an approximate round figure was calculated to reach over a quarter of a million. And this is not taking into account the cost of all the phone calls and text messages for which GO also waives the cost," added Nikhil Patil. As in previous years, GO also donated €80,000 to Istrina but this donation is over and above the physical and logistical support that the company lends to the annual event. Pierre Attard, Manager of GO's Fixed Access Corporate Services, today considered a veteran when it comes to the Istrina campaign's logistical setup explained how this year's set up required 220 telephone lines including donation lines, hot lines, pledge lines and transmission lines, as well as 15 ADSL lines for internet connections.

Three direct fibre links and some 40 new telephone lines were added over previous years. "All of this requires meticulous planning from site identification, to technology provisioning, to ensure that everything works perfectly on the day. The setup is usually ready four days prior to the event when we start carrying out daily tests of the systems whilst remaining ready for any eventual changes that happen even during the actual event. However, our work does not stop at the end of the event. My team continues working throughout the night dismantling the network that was installed during the previous days," explained Pierre Attard.

"Istrina's success would not be possible without the generosity of the Maltese people who every year donate towards this worthy cause. However, at GO we enjoy the same sense of pride knowing that part of this success was enabled by our state-of-the-art technology and communication infrastructure and logistical support, and a team of professionals who year in and year out continue to dedicate their time and energy for this worthy cause. This year is no exception," concluded Nikhil Patil.