The price of broadband in Portugal is better than average when compared to its European partners, according to a recent survey by ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações that compared Portuguese broadband prices to those currently on offer in 12 other European countries.
The result is the same whether the comparison is made based on the lowest available price or the lowest price charged by the historic operator, and is true when the prices for different download speeds are compared or, if instead of the lowest price, the average of lowest prices is compared.
The lowest price on offer in Portugal (14.46 excluding VAT) is 3.6% below the average of the 13 European countries surveyed (EU15 excluding Greece and Finland) and is the fifth lowest. Furthermore, when the prices offered by the historic operators are compared, the prices offered by the Portuguese historic operator (15.28 euros excluding VAT) is the second lowest.
The survey reveals that, when comparing the prices in the 13 countries surveyed, the minimum broadband prices for each download speed in Portugal come out as being below the average for the most popular speeds. For speeds of 2 Mbps, the lowest prices in Portugal were found to be 28.9% below average, making them the fourth lowest in Europe after the United Kingdom, Holland and Italy. The lowest price available in Portugal was 4.5% below average for speeds of 4 Mbps, 17.9% below average for 8 Mbps and 18.1% cheaper for 20 Mbps. Only the prices for 24 Mbps were found to be higher than the average of the countries surveyed.
If instead of the lowest price, a simple average of the lowest prices on offer by the various ISPs (Internet Service Providers) is taken for the various transmission speeds, Portugal's rankings improve in each speed class, although for offers with maximum download speeds of 24 Mps they remain more expensive.
Because of the importance of the market shares enjoyed by the historic operators, ANACOM, also compared their prices. Here the monthly fees charged by the Portuguese historic operator for connections with maximum speeds of up to 512 Kbps, 1 Mbps and 8 Mbps, were again lower than the average by 25.9%, 12.6% and 21.9% respectively. The exception was for speeds of 2 Mbps where the price of the historic operator was found to be 6.6% above the average.
Among the lowest prices on offer for 8 Mbps, the lowest price in Portugal - offered by a cable TV operator - was the fourth lowest, while the majority of offers from the Portuguese alternative operators ranged between €24.40 and €30.00 (excluding VAT). Looking at these results it can be concluded that the prices on offer in Portugal are below the European average.
Portugal also takes fourth place among the countries surveyed when the lowest prices for 2 Mbps connections are compared. Taking into account the range of variation and the average of 2 Mbps prices, it can also be concluded that, for this class of connection, the prices on offer in Portugal are in line with the European average.
The current price environment in Portugal, as well as the range of broadband offers in Portugal follows a set of recent measures taken by ANACOM in this area. ANACOM has been pushing for an improvement in wholesale conditions, both in terms of the local loop and the Rede ADSL PT (Network ADSL PT) wholesale offer. The improved regulatory conditions that ANACOM has put in place, bringing wholesale prices down and streamlining processes, has led to increased competition. This more competitive environment has in turn led to a wider choice of retail offers and services. As ANACOM'S survey bears out, this has brought benefits to the consumer with higher connection speeds and more competitive prices.
The download speeds of up to 24 Mbps that are available in Portugal are the same or higher than those on offer in the other countries surveyed.
As in the other countries, Portugal's broadband offers are based on ADSL (the local loop and PTC - Rede ADSL PT wholesale offers) and on cable modem. In Portugal, as in Ireland, there are also offers based on FWA, and one offer based on Powerline technology, which has since been discontinued.
There were found to be offers with limits on traffic in all the countries surveyed, while in Portugal, along with Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Luxemburg, these offers were in the majority.
In order to select the countries to be included in the survey, which was carried out in November 2006, the OECD's graph on broadband penetration rates in July 2006 was used to identify those countries that had a rate of broadband penetration that was similar to or higher than Portugal's. The resulting list broadly corresponds to the EU15, except for Greece, which was not included due to weak implementation of the service there, and Finland, which was not included due to difficulties in compiling data.
Consult:
- International Comparison of Broadband prices https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=863307
