Malta - British Expat Forum

Hello

Been lurking here on this forum since March 2012, using the great advice here to plan a relocation to Malta. Thanks to the folk here (and the cats and dogs at Gozo SPCA) for the thorough and detailed help, especially with finding estate agents and tax accountants.

Anway, my wife and I will be moving here on 1st October, and have got an apartment sorted out in St. Paul's.

While we are both travelling consultants, we both do a bit of work from home, so need fast internet up-and-running as soon as possible once we arrive.

My plan of action was as follows:-
1) October 1st : arrive in the evening, get proof of address from landlord (contract).
2) October 2nd: Visit the Melita branch in St. Paul's, buy a temporary internet package with a 4G dongle which we can use to access internet immediately, while Melita spend 48 hours setting up our apartment with internet (apparently it has a connection).
3) October 4th: Get router for apartment, start to use internet at home.
4) later in October: apply for ordinary residency (we are both EU)
5) even later in October: Once we get residency, switch to a longer-term package with Melita

Does anyone see any flaws in our master plan? I don't want to spend the first month working wirelessly in McDonalds Bugibba LOL.

Thanks a lot and just tell me if you want me to move the Melita stuff to the recommended suppliers!

Hi, welcome to the forum, and thank you for subscribing

your plan looks OK to me

ps they may well still be issuing ID cards to foreigners then, which is normally quicker than residency cards

Thanks Mark, I might try for the ID card first.

you can apply for them on the same day - different departments, but both in Valletta

Just on a technical point, there's no 4G in Malta yet (or indeed almost all of Europe bar a few test networks in places like Wales) so that dongle would be 3G. It sounds as if internet is important to you so consider getting a Vodafone Mobile WiFi (same as a Three MiFi in the UK) which could be shared between several devices and would stand a chance of working if Melita went down altogether.

When I arrived I went to the Vodafone store in St Julians and got a package. They took a hefty deposit (350 euros which I've just now after a year had added onto my bill, so I'll not be paying for mobile for a while ) but I was immediately able to pair the new iphone with my laptop and get a very usable 3g connection in St Julians. However I thought if I had an ID card I'd get the deposit back - turns out I was mistaken and they keep it for a year.

I'm not sure of the 3G signal in the St Pauls area, nor am I familiar with Melitas 4g dongle package so can't comment on that.

Melita Internet has taken 48 hours max for me to be installed, and was all done over the phone before I had any proof of residency.

Just on a side note, I was warned by multiple estate agents that St Pauls Bay area gets very quiet (aka dead) outwith the summer season, and most people they know moved up there moved back south after 6 months/1 year as they were bored. I have nothing other than their comments to back that up, but perhaps others on the forum might have better experience to comment?

Guys, thanks a lot for your advice. It's worth it's weight in gold.

When I moved to Malta, I telephoned Melita cable prior to my arrival to arrange for my internet connection to be installed the morning after arrival. All went to plan ... I arrived in Malta late afternoon Monday? ... I had full internet connect by 11AM the next morning.

That sounds great....I presumed you payed Melita by card before you arrived?

I had no problems with Melita when I arrived. I don't have a fancy phone or anything like that. I just wanted an internet connection, they came, they installed, they charged me €10. Never had a problem with them since.

Was that recently and was there a minimum contract period? I enquired last week about internet without a minimum contract and it was €20 or €40 installation and €75 or €100 deposit, depending on the speed.

It was a couple of years ago and I had to sign up to an 18 month contract - which didn't bother me as I have no intention of going anywhere. Initially they quoted me €40 installation but I noticed that that was the price for 'foreigners' and for Maltese it as €10. So I complained about it because I live and pay tax here and charged me €10 (probably just to shut me up)

although, I never had to pay a deposit.

Quote:

So I complained about it because I live and pay tax here and charged me €10 (probably just to shut me up)

Proves that it does no harm to do a bit of polite haggling.

haha yep!