Vodafone (Malta) called its shots in the price war that has erupted with the liberalisation of the mobile phone market. On Sunday Vodafone announced its Christmas offer with an extensive 30% reduction on its tariffs for December and new packages and services as from next January.

This reduction came as a direct result of the launch of go mobile, the second mobile operator in Malta, and the announcement of its tariffs a few days ago. Both Vodafone and go mobile are conducting extensive marketing campaigns across the Maltese media to advertise their new tariffs and services.

Communications Minister Censu Galea said that the lowering of prices is a good thing but the authorities will be vigilant and will not permit a lowering of the level of service as a result of these reductions.

Last Wednesday Vodafone launched a new SMS-based service called SMS Flash. Subscribers can pull news headlines, sports news and scores, equity and foreign exchange rates, and other content via the Short Message Service (SMS). MaltaMedia Sports Service is the content provider for the latest scores of Maltese, UK and Italian football, as well as local and foreign news headlines on SMS Flash. This service is available only in the Maltese Islands.