Summary - The electronic communications user 2015

The electronic communications user 2015

ANACOM, January 2016

Summary

• Three residential profiles were identified for the usage of electronic communications services, through cluster analysis:
• The first group is mostly made up of users of the five services under analysis (FTS+MTS+FBB+MBB+STVS¹), representing 40 per cent of the individuals analysed. These users are characterised by belonging to larger households (4 or more individuals), being middle-upper social class², and living in the Greater Lisbon area³. They are mostly individuals between 25 and 44 years old, with secondary or higher education, who are working (upper/middle management positions, specialised technicians, smallholders, services/commerce/administrative employees), or are students.
• The second group mostly comprises users of four services (FTS+MTS+FBB+STVS), users of mobile services only (MTS+MBB), as well as users of other more unusual service combinations that include the Internet access service. This group accounts for 35 per cent of the individuals analysed and includes larger families (3 or more individuals), in the lower-middle or lower social class² and showing a higher propensity to live in Portugal’s northern coastal area³. These individuals are between 15 and 24 years old or between 45 and 54, have completed secondary education (2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education), and are students, workers (skilled and unskilled) or unemployed.
• The third group uses fewer electronic communications services, with the telephone service predominating and excluding Internet access (MTS; FTS; FTS+MTS+STVS; FTS+MTS). This group represents 25 per cent of the individuals analysed. Those in this group belong to smaller households (one or two individuals), belong to the lower social classes² and live in homes where there are elderly people, located in the northern interior³. These users are mostly retired, aged 65 or over, and have a lower education level (primary education (1st cycle of basic education).
   
• For the first time, the combination of five services, FTS+MTS+FBB+MBB+STVS, not necessarily acquired as a bundle, became the commonest option. By the end of 2015 it was used by 1/3 of the individuals aged 15 or over (+9.1 percentage points more than the previous year). In 2015 this type of consumption grew significantly in nearly all social-demographic groups.
• Significant growth was recorded in the following offers and services in 2015: bundled services (73 per cent of households, 3.5 percentage points more than the previous year), fixed broadband over optical fibre (40 per cent of households with FBB, +5.5 percentage points), mobile phone Internet (38 per cent of individuals aged 15 or over, +10 percentage points), Smartphone usage (67 per cent of mobile phone users, +14.3 percentage points), over-the-top (OTT) services, such as instant messaging and voice calls over the Internet (71 and 49 per cent of Internet users, respectively, +5 percentage points in the second half of 2015, in both cases).
• Residential users of electronic communications services said they were satisfied with the services provided (scores between 7.6 and 8.5 on a scale of 1 to 10). At the end of 2015 FTS and STVS users reported the highest overall levels of satisfaction with the provider (8.5 and 8.4 points, respectively), outdoing MTS customers, who have usually been the most satisfied (8.3 points). Bundled services customers had one of the lowest average satisfaction levels (7.7) and were more likely to switch operators (6.6 per cent).
• The individuals most likely to be “dissatisfied”⁴ with the electronic communications services tend to be upper or middle managers, have a higher education level, and be middle aged. They also belong to larger families and to a higher social class.
• According to data from ANACOM’s 2014 Survey on the Use of Electronic Communications directed at SMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), about 9 out of 10 companies used the FTS, the MTS and the IAS.
  
  The combination of MTS+FTS+MBB+FBB services was the most used in all the sectors analysed.
  
  OTT services, notably the Internet messaging service (37.3 per cent of SMEs surveyed) and the voice over Internet service (27.2 per cent) are also used in the business segment, although with a smaller penetration rate than in the residential segment.
  
  In that same period, SME average satisfaction with electronic communications services ranked between 7.3 and 7.9, on a scale of 1 to 10.
  
  Among SMEs, in 2014 FTS was the service which saw the highest rate of provider switching (9.4 per cent). Provider switching reached the highest levels on record in the case of the MTS, FIAS and MIAS⁵.
• Penetration of FIAS among Portuguese companies (with 10 or more employees) was 1 percentage point above the average of the EU28 countries (for the first time in the last 5 years), while MBB penetration was 3 percentage points above the average. Acquisition of cloud computing services in large enterprises in Portugal reached 31 per cent in 2014 (-4 percentage points than the EU28 average).
• In January 2014, according to the EC, about 6 per cent of Portuguese households had no type of access to the telephone service (four percentage points above the EU28 average and two percentage points more than at the end of 2011). Portugal, Romania and Slovakia were the EU28 countries with the highest percentage of households without a (fixed or mobile) telephone service.
• The percentage of individuals who never used the internet access service has been decreasing, reaching 28 per cent in 2015, 12 percentage points above the EU28 average. These disparities with the EU are even clearer for older individuals (over 54 years old), those with a low level of education (up to lower secondary education (3rd cycle basic education)), retired people, and those with lower incomes;
• The main barriers to the take-up of electronic communications services are the lack of need and the use of alternative networks or services, in both the residential and the business market. Associated costs are an additional factor in the residential segment.