As at the end of the first quarter of 2007, there were 2,083 million customers of the broadband Internet access service in Portugal. Of these 1,51 million were customers of fixed broadband technologies and 573 thousand, 27.5% of the total, mobile broadband customers. The number of fixed broadband customers increased 19% compared to the same period of the previous year and by 3.4%, corresponding to 50 thousand new customers, compared to the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the number of customers using dial-up access continued to decline, to stand at 110 thousand, 46 thousand less than in the previous quarter, and representing just 7% of all Internet customers.
The figures for fixed broadband customers also show that, at the end of March, around 63% (946 thousand customers) were using ADSL access technology and 37% (558 thousand customers) had broadband access through cable modem.
For the first time since ADSL started to become available in Portugal, the number of customers accessing broadband through cable modem grew faster (3.7%) than the number of customers using ADSL (3.1%).
At first sight this upturn might be attributed to a range of new, competitively priced bundled offers that have come onto the market supported by this technology. This will be confirmed over the coming quarters.
In the first quarter of this year, the fixed broadband penetration rate, in terms of total customers as a proportion of the total population, stood at 14.2 per 100 inhabitants, 0.5% higher than seen in the previous quarter and approximately 2.3% above that seen in the first quarter of 2006.
Meanwhile this quarter saw data for mobile broadband being compiled in standardised form and for statistical purposes for the first time. The number of customers stood at around 573 thousand, giving a penetration rate of 5.4 per 100 inhabitants.
The overall broadband penetration rate in Portugal, as at the end of March, stood at almost 20 per 100 inhabitants.
In terms of fixed broadband, Grupo PT's share of the customer base shrank slightly to stand at 71 percent, 0.6 percent less than in the previous quarter and down 4.9 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
It should be noted that the increase seen in the customer shares of new broadband providers was in the large part supported by unbundled local loops, reflecting the improved conditions of the Local Loop unbundling (LLU) offer enacted by ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações.
Indeed, around 49 percent of new broadband customers, subscribed to the services of alternative providers.
Consult:
- Postal services https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=277884
