At the request of the Government and within the scope of its assigned responsibilities in providing assistance to the Government, ANACOM undertook a public consultationhttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1715205, held from 06 January to 14 February 2022, on coverage by very high-capacity public electronic communications networks and on the options for the installation of these networks using public funding (particularly funding from the European Union) in “white areas”.
In response to the public consultation, 623 contributions were received from a wide range of entities, including the Regional Governments of the Azores and Madeira, inter-municipal communities, local authorities, parish councils, electronic communications operators, citizens and companies. ANACOM is now publishing the public consultation report, which includes the public version of the contributions received.
This public consultation aims to gather inputs from all interested parties on matters associated with the identification and designation of “white areas”, i.e. areas lacking coverage by very high-capacity fixed networks, and on the options to be adopted regarding the development of this type of networks in these “white areas”, using public funding. The final objective is to guarantee access to very high-capacity networks (Gigabit) by the entire population, with the purpose of ensuring coverage of the entire national territory of Portugal and guaranteeing coverage of all households by Gigabit networks by 2030. Priority is given to areas with low population density, favouring territorial cohesion and the development of inland areas.
ANACOM carried out a preliminary identification of “white areas”, based on the percentage of network coverage by statistical subsection, supported by information obtained from operators. ANACOM also released an interactive maphttps://anacom.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=4fe9c54079b7476abde22b5cb67f080e of the identified "white areas".
