As at the end of second quarter 2017, there were 6.8 million users of typical mobile broadband services in Portugal (video-telephony, broadband data transmission, mobile TV, etc.), the highest figure recorded to date, representing an increase of 3.5% compared to the previous quarter and of 17.7% compared to second quarter 2016.
The increase in the use of these services (on a year-on-year basis) is associated with the increase in mobile phone users - 20.5% compared to the same period in 2016 - and the growing penetration of smartphones - 72.7% as at the end of June, according to the Marktest's Barómetro de Telecomunicações (Telecommunications Barometer).
At the end of June, the number of mobile stations eligible to use the service reached 17.1 million, of which 13 million (75.9% of the total) were effectively used in the last quarter. Excluding tablet/PCs and mobile stations associated with Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, there were 11.6 million active mobile stations/user devices with actual use.
The number of post-paid plans increased by 2.2% over the quarter and by 9% versus 2nd quarter 2016, while pre-paid plans increased 0.1% over the previous quarter and dropped 1.5% in year-on-year terms. Combined/hybrid plans increased by 1.5% over the first quarter and by 0.8% in the last year.
Pre-paid subscribers accounted for 47.5% of the total, post-paid subscribers, 26.6%, and combined/hybrid plans 25.8%.
MEO continues to be the main provider with 43.9% of active mobile stations with actual use, followed by Vodafone with 30.5%. NOS was the only provider that increased its share, to 23.6%.
In terms of conversation minutes, the volume originated on mobile networks increased by 1.9% compared to 2nd quarter 2016, due to the increase in off-net traffic (+11.1%) following the introduction of bundled offers which include the mobile service, with calls included and without differentiation between on-net/off-net tariffs. On-net traffic decreased by 3.4% versus 2nd quarter 2016.
In the period under review, users sent 9.9% fewer text messages compared to the previous year, which is due to the appearance of alternative forms of communication.
As regards international roaming, users of this service represent 7.3% of the total number of mobile stations with actual use. Roaming voice and Internet traffic increased compared to 2nd quarter 2015, reaching the highest levels to date. There was a notable increase in Internet traffic (in GB): 93.7%. This development is linked to the change in the European regulatory framework - roaming charges were ended on 15 June 2017.
Roaming in traffic has increased by more than 50%, with another notable increase in Internet traffic (+244.1% year-on-year).
Accumulated revenues from services provided to end customers were reported at around 657 million euros, falling 3.1% compared to the same period of 2016. Average monthly revenue per subscriber was 9.7 euros.
Infographic about mobile services
Consult the statistical report:
- Mobile services - 2nd quarter 2017 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1418425
