Moving to Malta beginning of April!

Hi everyone ;)

After a lot of thinking and searching for places in Malta or Gozo, I have decided that my next destination will be Mellieha :cool:
I have already spoken with my future landlady, and everything is more or less agreed for when I arrive over there.
From what I have being searching and from the feedback I got from my landlady to be, Mellieha seems to be a nice and decent place to live.

There are just few questions I would like to ask and I would appreciate if any of you could give me some sort of advice and help :)

Because I will be working from home, a good internet connection will be extremely important: The landlady told me in that I could choose from Melita or Go. Probably Go would be easier as the previous tenant was using that ISP while living there. Now, from your opinion or experience, which one you reckon provides the best service? Don't mind too much to pay a bit more, as long as the service and the offer provided, it's good.

And also, will I need to have a Maltese bank account before I can sign a contract with either Melita or Go?
To open a Maltese bank account, is it straight forward? and what kind of documents do they normally ask?

Well, these are my questions for the moment! I really hope someone can provide me with some kind of advise in regards to these matters. I would really appreciated ;)

Thanks to all in advance!

Antonio :)

Apart from Melita and GO, another ISP in Malta is Vodafone. While you are in Malta without Internet at home, you can buy a prepaid card and use 3G.

Lusco wrote:

Apart from Melita and GO, another ISP in Malta is Vodafone. While you are in Malta without Internet at home, you can buy a prepaid card and use 3G.


Hi Lusco,

Thanks for your suggestion! And yes, I will probably do that for the 1st week or so, until I get everything else sorted. I will just need to have a look for the prices for a pay as you go pen.

Cheers ;)
Antonio

melita = better rates , fastest internet speed

If you go on their respective websites you will see what they offer.
Hold off though if you can until July. I was informed there is a Trade Fair on about then and both will be making deal offers to attract custom. Tried to find the exact dates but they don't do themselves any favours - can't find it!

I am also moving to Mellieha in April :)

And I also work at home. I was advised Melita fro Internet by two locals when I was out there. My future landlord said he will organise connection the day after I move if I tell him which package. There is currently one for €30 fro 30Mbps with a free mobile and 9 months discount, thinking of going for that . I don't need tv package, though will probably also get phone.

No one has said to me I will need a bank account to set up, I will want one at some point to save converting Euros, but seems to be more cash and paying into bank than here. Not so much direct debit?

Hi everyone,

Thank you very much for all your replies. Yes, I reckon I will go for Melita. I had a look at their bundles and they seem to be much better than Go. Also, it seems that in regards to internet, which is what I will need the most, they have a faster internet connection.

I have sent an email to Melita CS and they confirmed to me that I won't need a Maltese bank account to setup a contract with them and I can book an installation for when I move in to the apartment. This is what they said to me: "Please note that there is a €20 installation fee for the bundle packages. Installations can be done within a couple of days time. It is not a must to have a Maltese bank account to install the services."

The thing is that they will charge me €200 as a deposit coz I don't have a Maltese ID. This was their explanation: "We would like to inform you that upon installation, the service is bound to a 24 months contract. This means that the service cannot be downgraded or disconnected for the first 24 months of service. Should you do not have a Maltese ID card, there is €200 refundable deposit to be settled upon installation as well."

But well, don't thing I have much more options so, I will probably go forward and book the installation with Melita as soon I have all my dates confirmed.

Once again, thanks a lot for all your advice and tips ;)

Cheerio,
Antonio

Hi Antonio and socialwhirl,

Melita and Axa health insurance are the two companies I've arranged direct debit with and it works fine !

Melita sends the bill online and debit your account a week or two later. Axa do it on a yearly basis and let you know when they are going to debit the amount.

Saves a lot of hassle paying with cash.

Cheers
Ricky

socialwhirl wrote:

I am also moving to Mellieha in April :)

And I also work at home. I was advised Melita fro Internet by two locals when I was out there. My future landlord said he will organise connection the day after I move if I tell him which package. There is currently one for €30 fro 30Mbps with a free mobile and 9 months discount, thinking of going for that . I don't need tv package, though will probably also get phone.

No one has said to me I will need a bank account to set up, I will want one at some point to save converting Euros, but seems to be more cash and paying into bank than here. Not so much direct debit?


Hi socialwhirl,

Yeah, that pack seems to be ok but I will probably go for the L one (Large pack - € 45 monthly - 80TV channels, 30Mbps internet, WIFI modem and telephony service. Get the service at €40 monthly for the first three months of service as part of an offer.)
The only reason is that on the package below, there are very few kids channels and with a 4 years old boy, the kids channels are a must :D

Anyway, wish you all the best with your moving and it seems that we will be neighbors pretty soon. Who knows we will see each other, down in Mellieha :)

Cheerio,
Antonio

ricky wrote:

Hi Antonio and socialwhirl,

Melita and Axa health insurance are the two companies I've arranged direct debit with and it works fine !

Melita sends the bill online and debit your account a week or two later. Axa do it on a yearly basis and let you know when they are going to debit the amount.

Saves a lot of hassle paying with cash.

Cheers
Ricky


That's great ricky! Thanks for the heads up ;)

When comparing advertised bandwidths (internet speeds) keep in mind two things:

1. The quality of the cabling between your house and your service provider can affect the speed i.e you won't achieve the advertised speed if the line isn't good enough.

2. Malta's international bandwidth is quite low. The advertised speed, if reached, will only determine the speed at which you receive data from your service provider. It doesn't necessarily mean that data from overseas will reach your service provider at that speed.

Hi lambada,

That's pretty much the same everywhere. Here in Portugal for example, my internet's speed it's advertised at 24MB but I am lucky if I get 15MB clean. My internet it's through ADSL but if it was via fiber, I wouldn't probably lose that much speed.

Therefore, if I managed to get at least 15MB clean, I will be quite happy :)

Thanks for your input anyway!

Antonio