At the end of 4th quarter of 2012 (4Q12), there were 16.8 million mobile stations in Portugal eligible to use the service, 1.2 percent more than in the previous quarter and 0.2 percent more than in the equivalent quarter of 2011 (4Q11). Of these, 13.3 million saw actual use during the period, corresponding to 79 percent of total mobile stations. Excluding cards/modem and mobile stations associated with machine-to-machine communications (M2M), the number of mobile stations/user devices which are active and which saw actual use over 4Q12 would be about 12.1 million.
At the end of December, the mobile service penetration rate reached 159.3 per 100 inhabitants. However, the penetration rate for mobile stations with actual use was reported at 125.8 per 100 inhabitants. Meanwhile, according to Marktest's Barómetro Telecomunicações (Telecommunications Barometer), 92.8 percent of the resident population were mobile subscribers.
With regard to mobile broadband, there were about 4.4 million actual users of the service, corresponding to an increase of 8.9 percent compared to 3Q12, and an increase of 6.1 percent compared to the 4Q11. Users of such services constitute 33.2 percent of total mobile stations with actual use.
Out of the total number of users of broadband services that recorded traffic in 4Q12 (about 978 thousand), 22.2 percent are users with cards/modems. Meanwhile, since 1st quarter 2010, the number of mobile stations associated with this particular service has declined 24.1 percent.
During the period being reported, the volume of conversation minutes originating on mobile networks increased by 0.4 percent compared to 3Q12 and decreased 1.6 percent compared to 4Q11, falling below the lower limit of the forecast range resulting from the historic trend and the estimated seasonal effect. Since the beginning of 2011, traffic in terms of minutes has stabilized.
An average of 144 minutes per month was reported per mobile station with actual use (excluding cards/modem), falling 2 minutes compared to 3Q12. Of these, 113 were on-net minutes and 17 were off-net minutes, while 6 were in calls to the fixed network, 3 minutes in calls to short/non-geographic numbers and 5 minutes in calls to international networks.
The average duration of calls originating on mobile network (excluding cards/modems) in the quarter being reported was 146 seconds.
Users of the text messaging service (SMS), comprising 65 per cent of mobile stations with actual use, excluding Internet access cards, sent almost 7 billion text messages during the quarter, which represents a decline of 1.6 percent compared to 3Q12. The growth trend in the number of messages has softened in recent quarters. The value corresponding to the period being reported is within the forecast range resulting from the historical trend and estimated seasonality.
Meanwhile, 25.2 million added-value messages were reported, representing 0.4 percent of total messages sent. On average, users of this service sent 290 messages per month (293 in 4Q11), corresponding to about 10 messages per day.
The number of users of MMS, video calls, and Mobile TV remains relatively small, and traffic associated with these services declined in 4Q12.
During this quarter, the balance of roaming traffic (roaming in traffic - roaming out traffic) was negative in the case of traffic volume in terms of minutes. The 4th quarter is normally characterized by a deficit in this balance. However, the recorded value was below the forecast range resulting from the historical trend and seasonality. The average number of users of the international roaming service outside Portugal represented 6.7 percent of total mobile stations with actual use.
Roaming out traffic, and in particular roaming Internet traffic, increased over the same quarter of the previous year (4Q11). This trend may be associated with the entry into force of the third Roaming Regulation that imposed a reduction in voice and SMS pricing and, for the first time, stipulated a price reduction for data services (Internet and multimedia messages).
However, roaming in traffic decreased significantly, as is usual for this time of the year. Compared to the same quarter last year, there are marked increases in Internet traffic.
Consult the statistical report:
- Mobile Services - 4th quarter 2012 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1156081
