Malta: SIP providers and connecting a number to the PBX

This page continues the general guide on connecting a provider's number to the PBX: that page covers what is the same for every operator — the two trunk modes, what to ask the provider, what to enter in the form, network requirements and the connectivity check. Here is the Maltese specificity: who in the country sells a number with a SIP trunk, what that operator issues and what of it goes into Telephony → "Trunks and connections" → "Add provider".

The data was collected on 9 September 2026 from operator documentation and materials of the regulator, the MCA (Malta Communications Authority); links are in the "Sources" section.

In short#

• A number with a SIP trunk can be bought in Malta. The venue needs no licence: the service is provided by a Maltese operator that holds a general authorisation from the MCA, and you simply connect your own PBX to its trunk.
• The market is small and fully known. According to the MCA register of authorised undertakings dated 02.09.2026, telephony in the country is provided by GO, Melita, Epic and Vanilla Telecoms; the entire eight-digit numbering plan is allocated to them.
• First choice — Vanilla Telecoms. It is the only Maltese operator that publishes its trunk parameters and a dedicated Asterisk/FreePBX settings block, works in registration mode and offers a 30-day free trunk trial — you can test the setup before paying.
• Second — GO, the incumbent with a public PDF datasheet for its trunk. It is the best-documented trunk in the country and also the most demanding: the public IP of your PBX must be added to GO's whitelist, the operator requires the number to be sent in the PPI header and expects DNS SRV support.
• The main local pitfall is not technical, it is caller ID. Since 1 November 2024 Maltese operators, by MCA decision, block calls reaching Malta from abroad when the Caller ID is a Maltese number starting with +356 1, +356 2 or +356 8, and separately filter unassigned numbers. The check is free: call +356 2400 2400 from the configured trunk — the announcement tells you whether your provider is authorised by the MCA.
• Paperwork. All four local operators sell the trunk under a business contract; none of them offers self-service "pay by card, get a trunk". At Vanilla a trial request is processed within 1–2 business days.

Numbers in the country#

• Country code — +356. The numbering plan is closed and of fixed length: the national number is exactly 8 digits, there are no area codes and no national prefix. Inside the country you dial the same 8 digits; abroad — 00 plus the country code.
• Fixed (geographic) numbers — ranges 20XX XXXX … 27XX XXXX. Mobile — 77XX (Melita), 79XX (GO), 92XX, 99XX, 96XX, 98XX (Epic and virtual operators). Freephone — 800X XXXX. Premium rate — 5XXX XXXX.
• The service number 2400 2400 is listed in the numbering plan as the "On-Net Authorised Provider Check Facility" — this is the "is my provider authorised by the MCA" check.
• In E.164 a Maltese number looks like +356 plus the same 8 digits: +356 2166 9015.

On the "Lines" tab the number may be entered in any form: the PBX compares the last seven digits. For eight-digit Maltese numbering that is more than enough — only numbers differing in the first digit could collide, and no such ranges exist in the country. Enter the line with the full 8 digits (21669015) or in international form (+35621669015) — both work.

⚠️ The format of the incoming number differs between operators. GO documents that it sends the national 8 digits (To: 21669015@trunk.gotel.com.mt), while an international caller ID arrives as 0044… or +44…. Melita, Epic and Vanilla do not describe the format publicly — ask at connection time so that the line matches what actually arrives.

Who issues a number with a SIP trunk#

The first two rows are operators whose parameters are known in advance and published: their cards are below. For Melita the mode is known, while host and port are issued under contract. For the remaining Maltese operators the trunk is either not publicly confirmed or sold only together with their own PBX — they have a separate section.

Vanilla Telecoms#

A Maltese operator since 2005, authorised by the MCA, holder of the ranges 2031–2034, 2069 and the freephone range 8003 4XXX. It sells both its own cloud PBX (CloudPBX) and a trunk to someone else's: "Already have a phone system you like? A SIP trunk is the internet phone line that connects it to the outside world".

Connection is by request from the site; separately there is a 30-day free trunk trial with no card, requests processed within 1–2 business days. Numbers — "plans start from just €1/month", porting is free.

What to enter in the admin panel

What to set up at the provider: order the trunk (you may start with the trial) → take the trunk login and password from the CloudPBX portal → attach the numbers to the trunk → clarify in which form the incoming DID arrives (8 digits or full international) → agree on the number substitution for the "Show as" rule.

Pitfalls ⚠️ The operator publishes the parameters in the section for phones and ATAs — for the trunk they are the same only in the "Asterisk / FreePBX" block, so confirm them by e-mail at activation. The operator's codecs are "G.711a (preferred), G.729"; our PBX has no G.729, but G.711a is the operator's preferred one, so the standard negotiation succeeds. No ready-made template exists at PBX vendors for this operator — neither 3CX nor Yeastar certified it, everything is entered by hand. Emergency calls to 112 are available under the operator's terms of service (clause 15.5).

Source: Support / Device Setup Guides · SIP Trunking · Terms of Service — 09.09.2026.

GO p.l.c.#

The country's incumbent, authorised by the MCA since 2004, holder of most of the fixed numbering (21XX–23XX, 25XX), the mobile range 79XX and the freephone ranges 8006/8007. The product is named plainly — SIP Trunk, "flexible channel ranges [4 to 120+]", with its own anti-fraud system; tariffs are not published.

Requests go through the site or business support 2121 2121, and connection involves an engineering review: the guide includes a "Customer Compliance Form" asking for the vendor and model of the PBX, router and firewall. The operator recommends taking internet service from itself, but explicitly covers our scenario too: "The GO SIP Service can be deployed from any location around the globe" — with the condition "Non-GO Public IP Addresses would require to be whitelisted".

What to enter in the admin panel

What to set up at the provider: order a SIP Trunk with the required number of channels → fill in the Customer Compliance Form → give the operator the static IP of your dedicated PBX ("Server" tab → "Static IP") for the whitelist → attach the numbers or the DDI range to the trunk → confirm in writing the access to 112 and the trunk's behaviour without the PPI header.

Pitfalls ⚠️

• The whitelist is mandatory. Without your PBX IP added, calls simply will not reach the operator's servers — and registration may still look "green".
• The PPI header. The datasheet requires the registered number to be carried in the P-Preferred-Identity header of INVITE/REFER. Our PBX does not send such headers by default — if outgoing calls are rejected or "Show as" does not work, write to our support: sending the number in a separate header is enabled on the server side.
• DNS SRV. The operator relies on SRV record resolution for geo-redundancy between its sites; our form always carries a specific host and port, so the PBX stays on one site. The trunk works, but it does not "move" during the operator's maintenance — state this in the contract.
• UDP only. Packet loss on the link is fixed by the link, not by switching to TCP: TCP is not offered on the native trunk.
• The "SIP Trunk with Gateway" variant (trunke.gotel.com.mt, 5061/TCP) is a rented operator router at the venue; it does not apply to a cloud PBX — order the native trunk instead.

Source: SIP Trunk · Configuration Guide, PDF, rev. 01.08.2024 — 09.09.2026.

Melita#

The country's second-largest operator, a cable/fibre and mobile network, holder of the ranges 2010–2018, 2060/2065, 2600–2609, 27XX and the mobile range 77XX. There are three telephony products — a cloud PBX, SIP Trunk and Microsoft Teams Direct Routing; we need the second one.

The price is published: SIP Trunk from €40.00 per month excluding VAT (€47.20 including VAT), from 4 concurrent calls, unlimited calls to Melita numbers, a 24-month contract. The product targets exactly our scenario: "Ideal for businesses that have their own PBX on-premises or in the cloud", and "The Melita Business SIP trunk solution is already integrated with leading SIP PBX brands such as 3CX, Asterisk, FreePBX and Cisco".

Parameters are issued at connection, the operator has no public "host, port, codecs" page — that is why there is no "what to enter" table here. Only the mode is known reliably: in the Yeastar certification the operator is tested as a Register Trunk with the alaw codec and RFC 2833 tone dialling — meaning the "Register with the provider (REGISTER)" checkbox in our form will be on.

What to ask the account manager — following the list in "What to ask the provider": SIP host, port, transport, login and password, incoming DID format, codecs, access to 112 and the rules for substituting the number on outgoing calls. Separately and necessarily: the operator hands over multi-line telephony either "through a secure internet connection" or "over a physical ethernet handover" — only the first option suits a cloud PBX, so word your request accordingly.

Pitfalls ⚠️ Without public parameters you cannot plan a connection "in one evening" — budget time for correspondence. The minimum package is 4 channels: excessive for a small venue, but it is also the price ceiling. The certified codec is only alaw (we do have it), and G.722 (HD audio) should not be expected on the trunk.

Source: Business Fixed Telephony / SIP Trunk · Yeastar ITSP Malta — 09.09.2026.

Telxi#

A provider that Yeastar publishes on its page of certified operators for Malta specifically: tested as a Register Trunk, codecs ulaw, alaw, g722, g729a, GSM, tone dialling RFC 2833. According to its own site it is an international self-service player: numbers in 100+ countries from $1.50 per month, EU/UK channel bundles, trunk provisioning from the customer portal.

What to enter in the admin panel

What to set up at the provider: create a trunk in the portal → request a Maltese number and ask in writing whose numbering it comes from → disable TLS and SRTP (optional at the provider, not supported for our trunks) → enter numbers in international format, as the provider requires.

Pitfalls ⚠️ "Maltese provider" here is a PBX-vendor catalogue label, not a Maltese authorisation: the company is absent from the MCA register of authorised undertakings (revision of 02.09.2026), and Malta is absent from the published country list of its European number bundle. That does not matter for incoming calls, but outgoing calls with a Maltese geographic number fall exactly under the blocking described in "In short" — before building the venue's telephony on it, call +356 2400 2400 from the configured trunk and listen to the answer.

Source: Yeastar ITSP Malta · Telxi — SIP trunking · connecting the trunk to 3CX or another PBX — 09.09.2026.

Operators "under contract" and integrators#

International providers with numbers of this country#

Maltese numbers are also sold by international providers; their trunk parameters are the same for every country — take them from the provider's card in the admin panel catalogue or from the "Add provider" section. Only the Maltese specificity is here:

• Voxbone (today Bandwidth) — the only international player that is itself listed in the MCA register of authorised undertakings (with an address in Valletta). For the "outgoing calls with a Maltese number" scenario it is the calmest choice among the international ones.
• DIDWW — Maltese national +356 20 numbers are available, inbound and local SIP trunking are supported, porting too. However emergency calling, SMS and fax on those numbers are "Not Supported": the venue will still need a local path to 112.
• Twilio — for Malta it is the only provider with Preferred status in the 3CX catalogue, so it does have Maltese numbers. Limitations: no substitution of someone else's number, TLS is not used on our side, the trunk number is entered in international format. For numbers with a geographic requirement Twilio demands an address within the number's area; a PO box is not accepted.
• Telnyx, Zadarma, AVOXI, AstraQom, IDT Express advertise Malta coverage, but we did not verify live +356 numbers in their portals — check before ordering.
• Common to all international providers on this market: the caller ID is allowed only with your own number; outgoing calls with a Maltese geographic number from abroad fall under the MCA blocking, so a check by calling +356 2400 2400 is mandatory; emergency calls to 112 on a Maltese number are usually unavailable at international providers.

Number porting#

• Porting in Malta is mandatory and regulated by the MCA: a dedicated decision on number portability is in force (it replaced the 2005 and 2010 revisions as of 01.06.2023), with published procedures for fixed and DDI numbers, for mobile numbers and for the inter-operator web service.
• Porting is initiated by the receiving operator. Vanilla describes the practice as: "We support number porting from most carriers in Malta. The porting process typically takes 5–10 business days … You'll need to provide your current bill and a Letter of Authority"; porting itself is free, and debts with the previous operator are settled before the request.
• DDI ranges are ported as a whole — the procedure for fixed and DDI numbers is separate from single numbers; splitting a range on porting is generally not possible, check with the operator.
• What breaks on porting: access to 112 (the service is ordered anew from the new operator), the number's bindings at the previous operator (voice menu, forwarding), and the "Maltese-ness" of the number on outgoing calls if it moves to a provider without Maltese authorisation.
• A number registered to an individual ports less easily: the owner in the Letter of Authority and in the new contract must be the same.

Rules and paperwork#

If it does not work#

Causes that do not depend on the country are in "If calls do not go through"; checking the address and port is in "Check the connection".

Frequently asked questions#

Which operator to choose if nothing is connected yet?#

Vanilla Telecoms. It is the only Maltese operator that publishes trunk parameters and a dedicated Asterisk/FreePBX settings block, works in registration mode and offers a 30-day free trial — you can test the setup before signing a contract. If the venue's number is already at GO, staying at GO is more logical: their trunk is the best-documented in the country, just budget time for the IP whitelist and for sorting out the PPI header.

What is the check on +356 2400 2400?#

It is an MCA service number listed in the numbering plan as the "On-Net Authorised Provider Check Facility". Call it from an already configured trunk — the announcement tells you whether your provider is authorised in Malta. The check is free and takes a minute, while the opposite outcome is serious: since 1 November 2024 calls into the country from abroad with a Maltese geographic caller ID are blocked, and the venue learns about it from guests' complaints rather than from an invoice.

Why is there no parameter table for Melita?#

The operator does not publish them: the host, port and incoming number format arrive by e-mail after the contract is signed. Only the mode is known reliably — in the PBX vendor's certification Melita is tested as a trunk with registration. Ask for the parameters in writing using the list in the general guide, and immediately specify a connection "through a secure internet connection" rather than a physical traffic handover: the latter is unreachable for a cloud PBX.

Can a Maltese number be taken from an international provider?#

Technically yes — Maltese numbers are sold by Bandwidth (Voxbone), DIDWW, Twilio and others. But check two things: whether the provider is authorised in Malta (outgoing calls with a Maltese number depend on it) and whether 112 is available on the number — at DIDWW, for example, emergency calling on Maltese numbers is explicitly not supported. For the venue's main number a local operator is safer; an international one works well as a backup path or a number of another country.

Is an eight-digit number enough for correct line routing?#

Yes. The PBX compares the last seven digits of the incoming number with the line's number, and a Maltese national number is exactly 8 digits with no area codes, so the tail distinguishes neighbouring numbers unambiguously. Enter the line with the full number (21669015) or in international form (+35621669015) — both work.

Sources#

All links checked on 09.09.2026.

Regulator

• MCA — Register of Authorised Undertakings (ECS), revision of 02.09.2026, PDF: https://www.mca.org.mt/sites/default/files/pageattachments/2026.09.02%20Register%20-%20ECS.pdf
• MCA — Authorisation of Services (general authorisation by notification): https://www.mca.org.mt/regulatory/authorizations_licensing/electronic_communication/authorisation-of-Services
• MCA — National Numbering Plan Allocations, v171, September 2026, PDF (ranges and their holders): https://www.mca.org.mt/sites/default/files/2026-09/171%20-%20September%2026%20Number%20Allocations.pdf
• MCA — Introduction of blocking measures to combat scam calls with Maltese numbers (blocking since 01.11.2024, the check number): https://www.mca.org.mt/node/8289
• MCA — Number Portability (porting procedures): https://www.mca.org.mt/numbering/number-portability-np

Operators

• Vanilla Telecoms — Support / Device Setup Guides (trunk parameters): https://vanilla.net.mt/support
• Vanilla Telecoms — SIP Trunking: https://vanilla.net.mt/sip-trunking
• Vanilla Telecoms — SIP Trial (30 days): https://vanilla.net.mt/sip-trial
• Vanilla Telecoms — Terms of Service (emergency calls, porting): https://vanilla.net.mt/terms
• GO — SIP Trunk (product, channel counts): https://www.go.com.mt/business/products/voice/sip-trunk/
• GO — SIP Trunk Configuration Guide, rev. 01.08.2024, PDF (host, ports, codecs, PPI, whitelist): https://prodcms.go.com.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/SIPTrunkConfig-010824.pdf
• Melita Business — Business Fixed Telephony / SIP Trunk (price, integration with Asterisk and FreePBX): https://www.melitabusiness.com/solutions/multiline-telephony-sip/
• Epic — Fixed Multi-Channel Telephony: https://www.epic.com.mt/business/solutions/fixed-telephony/
• Telxi — SIP Trunking: https://telxi.com/sip-trunking/
• Telxi — How to connect your SIP Trunk to 3CX or other PBX (parameters): https://intergo.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/43000707929-how-to-connect-your-sip-trunk-to-3cx-or-other-pbx

PBX vendor catalogues and international providers

• 3CX — SIP Trunk Providers, Malta (Twilio — Preferred, GO — Supported): https://www.3cx.com/partners/sip-trunks/malta/
• Yeastar — Certified SIP Trunk Providers, Malta (Melita, Telxi): https://www.yeastar.com/itsp-partners/malta/
• DIDWW — Maltese Virtual Phone Numbers (+356 20, no emergency calling or SMS): https://www.didww.com/phone-numbers/all-phone-numbers/Malta/National
• Twilio — Understanding Address Requirements for Phone Numbers: https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223182868-Understanding-Address-Requirements-for-Phone-Numbers

Related pages#

• Connecting a provider's number to the PBX — general steps, trunk modes, network, connectivity check.
• Setting up SIP phones — how to connect desk phones and DECT to extensions.