Executive Summary
The number of TVS subscribers in Portugal reaches 4.6 million, but the rate of growth has slowed
At the end of 2023, there were 4.6 million subscribers to the subscription TV signal distribution service (STV) in Portugal, 96 thousand more than in 2022. The growth rate in the number of subscribers to this service slowed down, recording the lowest level of annual growth (+2.1%) since 2013.
The overwhelming majority of households had STV (98.3%).
Optical fibre used by 64% of STV subscribers
The service's growth was due to offers supported by optical fibre (FTTH/B), with 2.9 million subscribers. Optical fibre saw an additional 198 thousand subscribers compared to 2022 (+7.2%). This growth resulted not only from the acquisition of new customers, but also from customers previously supported on other networks switching to FTTH/B.
The number of STV subscribers supported by optical fibre registered the biggest slowdown in annual growth (+7.2%) since the emergence of this technology (2007).
Since 2018, FTTH/B has been the principal means of access to this service. At the end of 2023, FTTH/B represented 63.9% of total subscribers, followed by cable TV (26.9%), satellite TV - DTH (7.1%) and ADSL (2.1%).
Residential STV subscribers make up 89% of the total
At the end of 2023, there were 4.1 million residential subscribers to the STV distribution service, 68 thousand more (+1.7%) than in 2022, representing 88.7% of total subscribers.
In the non-residential segment, there were 518 thousand subscribers, representing 11.3% of total subscribers, and reporting an increase of 5.7% compared to the previous year. Since 2021, the number of non-residential TVS subscribers has seen an accelerated rate of growth.
Provider shares of subscribers
At the end of 2023, MEO was the provider with the highest share of subscribers to the STV distribution service (41.5%), followed by Grupo NOS (36.4%), Vodafone (19.2%) and NOWO (2.7%). Vodafone and MEO were the providers that, in net terms, attracted the most subscribers compared to 2022, with their shares increasing by 0.5 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. On the other hand, Grupo NOS saw its share decrease by 0.7 percentage points and NOWO by 0.2 percentage points.
In the residential segment, MEO reported the highest share (39.9%), followed by Grupo NOS (37.5%), Vodafone (19.4%) and NOWO (3.0%). MEO and Vodafone each saw an increase in their share of subscribers (both +0.4 percentage points), Grupo NOS and NOWO saw decreases (-0.6 percentage points and -0.2 percentage points, respectively).
The level of concentration, as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, remained high, with a slight increase from 2022. Between 2013 and 2022, there was a trend of decreasing concentration following the launch of Vodafone’s triple-play offer over FTTH/B, but this trend has softened since 2015.
