2015 Portugal - Telecoms, IP Networks and Digital Media

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Last updated: 16 Jun 2015 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 87

Publication Overview

This report provides a comprehensive overview of trends and developments in Portugal’s telecommunications market. The report analyses the mobile, internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media sectors. Subjects include:

  • Market and industry analyses, trends and developments;
  • Facts, figures and statistics;
  • Industry and regulatory issues;
  • Infrastructure developments;
  • Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers, ARPU, MoU;
  • Internet, VoIP, IPTV;
  • Mobile Voice and Data Markets;
  • Broadband (FttP, DSL, cable, wireless);
  • Convergence and Digital Media;
  • Mobile subscriber and ARPU forecasts;
  • Broadband market forecasts for selective years to 2020.
  • Government policies affecting the telecoms industry;
  • Market liberalisation and industry issues;
  • Telecoms operators – privatisation, IPOs, acquisitions, new licences;
  • Mobile technologies (GSM; 3G, HSPA, LTE).

Researcher:- Henry Lancaster
Current publication date:- June 2015 (14th Edition)

Executive Summary

Portuguese market sees several changes following sale of Portugal Telecom to Altice Group

Portugal’s medium-sized telecom market has a strong mobile sector and a fast-developing broadband sector which has focussed on fibre networks. The development of digital-TV services has progressed under cautious regulatory guidance, with a licence for digital-service transmission awarded to Portugal Telecom in mid-2008. The difficult economic conditions have seen operators’ domestic revenue fall in recent quarters. The market has seen significant merger activity, with Sonaecom’s Optimus division being merged with Zon Multimédia in mid-2013, becoming Zon Optimus before being rebranded as NOS. Portugal telecom is in the process of being acquired by Altice in a €7.4 billion deal, approval for which has required Altice to dispose of its local units Onitelecom and Cabovisão.

Given the rapid development of capable fixed-line broadband infrastructure, there has been considerable take-up of bundled services. Almost three-quarters of households took multiple services by the beginning of 2015. The main players are NOS and Portugal Telecom, while Vodafone has invested heavily in its own national NGN, with a view to extending its 1Gb;/s offerings more widely across its network.

The mobile market is served by a triopoly of MNOs, the incumbent’s Meo, Vodafone and NOS. Mobile penetration is above the EU average, while growth has been supported through customer use of multiple SIM cards. HSPA and LTE upgrades have considerably boosted the geographical reach and take-up of high-end mobile data services. Meo was the first operator to launch commercial LTE services, while Vodafone has more recently developed LTE-A capable of data rates of up to 450b/s.

This report assesses the major elements of Portugal’s telecom market, presenting statistics on the fixed telephony sector as well as an analysis of the major market players. Additional information is provided on the key regulatory issues, noting the status of interconnection, local loop unbundling, number portability and carrier preselection. This report also considers the fast developing bundled services market, as also the cable, digital and satellite TV markets. It profiles Portugal’s fixed and wireless broadband markets, providing key statistics on the retail and wholesale sectors as well as subscriber forecasts to 2020. The report also analyses the mobile market, providing statistics on network operators, a review of the key regulatory issues, a snapshot of the consumer market, and an analysis of mobile data services.

Key developments:

  • Zon Optimus rebrands as NOS;
  • PT sold by Oi to the Altice Group for €7.4 billion;
  • Government secures MNO deal to extend mobile network coverage to 2017;
  • Portugal adopts Multi Frequency Network (MFN) to resolve DTT reception problems;
  • Three-quarters of households take bundled services;
  • Altice puts Cabovisão up for sale;
  • Vodafone signs fibre-network sharing agreement with Portugal Telecom;
  • Fibre sector accounting for 75% of all new broadband subscribers;
  • Vodafone achieves 450Mb/s downlink speeds in LTE-A trials, provides 90% LTE population coverage;
  • Decline in SMS traffic in wake of messaging alternatives;
  • Report update includes regulator’s market data to Q4 2014; telcos’ operating and financial data to Q1 2015; recent market developments 

Companies mentioned in this report:

Meo (TMN), NOS (Optimus, Zon Multimédia), Vodafone, Portugal Telecom, Sonaecom, Onitelecom, Cabovisão

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