On the occasion of the World Consumer Rights Day, which is celebrated today, 15 March 2021, we recall the main initiatives carried out by ANACOM in 2020 with the aim of protecting the rights of communications consumers.
The pandemic has sharpened the need to promote greater competition in the electronic communications market, to help users derive maximum benefit in terms of choice, price and quality of service, to encourage effective and efficient use of spectrum, and to promote social, economic and territorial cohesion.
In this respect, ANACOM has promoted specific consumer protection initiatives in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic:
- we disseminated best practices for the use of electronic communications networks and serviceshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1522194 and raised awareness of the increase in COVID-19-related fraud and cyber-attackshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1522189;
- we published a practical guide to address main doubts of communications consumers, which we always keep up to date;
- We made available on the Consumer Portal a thematic area on the COVID-19 pandemic with relevant and useful information on exceptional measures approved by the Government, the Parliament and service providers;
- we proposed an exceptional and temporary set of measures to protect customers of electronic communications services and submitted to Parliament a proposal to strengthen the protection of electronic communications usershttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1530841;
- and we monitor electronic communications and parcel traffic on a regular basis.
In October, we launched the tem.REDE? app, which provides information on the coverage of MEO, NOS and VODAFONE’s networks, enabling any user to check where operators have coverage to provide mobile “Voice, SMS and MMS” and mobile Internet services in the national territory.
As part of the 5G rollout in Portugal, in December we made available the 5G Portal, the aim of which is to enable everyone - citizens, businesses, the academic community, municipalities, among others - to access information about the characteristics and potential of the 5th mobile generation technology, as well as how the respective adoption has evolved in Portugal. Also in this area, ANACOM released a study that assesses 5G impact in terms of exposure of the general population to electromagnetic fieldshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1604104. Measurements showed that the equipment under trial was operating in compliance with the appropriate technical requirements and values were more than 50 times below reference levels.
ANACOM remains committed, within the scope of its competences, to promoting initiatives and adopting measures designed to protect the rights of communications consumers.
