In the 1st quarter of 2020, there were 4 million accesses to the internet via fixed broadband, 180 thousand more accesses (+4.7%) than the same quarter of the previous years, although the growth that has been observed over the last few years is slowing down.
Optical fibre was the main form of access to fixed broadband, accounting for 51.7% of the total, 4.8% more than in the 1st quarter of 2019. There were 278 thousand more accesses in the quarter, to 2.1 million, reflecting 15.5% growth.
The accesses supported by TV networks increased by 1.4% in the quarter, the highest value since the 3rd quarter of 2018, and represented 29.9% of the total, one point less than in the same period of the previous year. ADSL accesses continued on a downward trend, having fallen by 20.5% in comparison with the 1st quarter of 2019. ADSL represented 11.4% of total accesses. Fixed accesses supported by mobile networks increased by 0.9% and accounted for 6.9% of total accesses.
During the quarter under review, total fixed broadband internet traffic increased by 41.3% year-on-year. The monthly average traffic per access stood at 160.6 GB, corresponding to 34.9% more than in the same quarter of 2019, reaching the highest value recorded up to date. This evolution was influenced by the exceptional measures associated to Covid-19 which were enforced in March. It is estimated that, on average, the traffic of fixed data is likely to have increased by 59% during the state of emergency. In absolute terms, the growth of average traffic per access (41.6 GB) was the highest ever.
At the end of March, the penetration rate of fixed broadband residential customers was 81.5 per 100 private households, 3.6% more than in the same quarter of the previous year.
In terms of distribution of the market, MEO's share of fixed broadband access was 40.3%, followed by the NOS Group with a share of 35.5%, Vodafone with 20.2%, and the NOWO/Onitelecom Group with 3.7%.
MEO was also the main provider of internet supported by optical fibre and ADSL, having achieved shares of 56.1% and 89.4%, respectively, by the end of the 1st quarter. The NOS Group was the main provider of internet supported by cable TV networks (87.9%) and fixed location mobile networks (63.21%).
Merely considering residential fixed broadband accesses, MEO had the largest share of subscribers (38.8%), followed by the NOS Group (37.7%), Vodafone (19.2%) and the NOWO/Onitelecom Group (4.1%).
Consult the statistical report:
- Internet access service at a fixed location - 1st quarter 2020 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1543042
