At the end of 2nd quarter 2012 (2Q12), there were about 2.3 million customers with fixed Internet access in Portugal, 26 thousand more than in the previous quarter. This represents a quarterly growth rate of 1.1 per percent and an increase of 6.3 percent when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Meanwhile, there were around 2.89 million users of mobile services who actually used mobile broadband Internet, a decline of 0.3 percent compared to 2Q11. Of these accesses, 1.04 million accesses used cards/modem.
In June, the broadband Internet access penetration rate was reported at 21.7 per 100 inhabitants in the case of fixed access and 27.2 per 100 inhabitants in the case of mobile access with actual use.
The main technology used for fixed broadband Internet access continues to be ADSL, which represents 47 percent of total accesses, followed by cable modem with 39.6 percent. Internet over optical fibre (FTTH/B) made up 13.3 percent of total accesses. The evolution reported in terms of these forms of access in 2Q12 is in line with the respective historical trends.
It is noted that Internet access supported over FTTH/B saw the highest level of new take up, representing a growth rate of 11.7 percent over the quarter being reported and 76.5 percent compared to 2Q11.
In terms of provider shares of fixed broadband accesses, Grupo PT retained a share of 50.7 percent, an increase of 0.6 percentage points over the previous quarter and an increase of 9.3 percentage points since the spin-off of PT Multimédia (November 2007).
Broadband Internet access traffic increased by 4 percent in 2Q12, mainly due to the evolution occurring with regard to fixed broadband traffic, with an increase of 4.5 percentage points, representing about 96.2 percent of the total, whereas mobile Internet access traffic declined by 7.3 percent. Average traffic per broadband Internet access at a fixed location was reported at 34 GB per month, and traffic generated per mobile broadband customer with actual use was 1.07 GB per month (2.77 GB per month in the case of cards/modem).
In terms of connection speed, in 2Q12, the majority of users (77 percent) had a theoretical maximum speed of 10 Mbps. Meanwhile, as at the end of 2011, Portugal had the third highest proportion of accesses in the EU equal to or greater than 10 Mbps.
According to the "Barómetro Telecomunicações" (Telecommunications Barometer), from Marktest, the average monthly charge payable for the Internet access service in 2Q12, where billed separately, was 21 Euros for fixed Internet and 15.70 Euros for the mobile Internet using cards/modem. The monthly charge payable for internet access via a mobile phone was 9.80 euros in the same period. The average monthly expenditure of households with bundled offers ranged from 49.60 euros in the case of triple-play (fixed telephone service FTS internet access services - IAS + subscription television service - STVS) and 28.40 euros in the case of double-play offers (FTS+IAS). The monthly charge for bundles with STVS+IAS was 46.70 euros.
Consult the statistical report:
- Internet Access Service - 2nd quarter 2012 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1136107
