In the fourth quarter of 2007 Portugal had 1.96 million subscribers to the services of subscription TV supported by cable distribution networks or satellite (DTH) - around 2% more than the number recorded in the previous quarter.
Investment in DTH technology has been seen above all in the Alentejo (where DTH represents around 53% of the total of households with access to these services), in the autonomous region of the Azores and in the Centre region (regions where DTH subscribers represent around 45% of the customers of paid television services). In the remaining regions, the cable television service represents between 70% and 90% of the total.
Therefore, as of the end of December 2007, the total number of cabled households for all operators stood at around four million, 63 thousand more households than in the previous quarter, an increase of 1.6%.
The Alentejo was the region that saw the biggest percentage increase in the number of cabled households (10% over the previous quarter and 11.3% year-on-year).
No major changes were seen in the distribution of cabled households by region, with the Lisbon area continuing to have the biggest concentration of cabled households (44%, in line with the previous quarter).
During the period being reported, the number of subscribers to the cable television services, 1.49 million subscribers, grew by around 1%, an addition of 20 thousand customers. Meanwhile, year-on-year, there was an increase of around 5%, representing the addition of around 69 thousand new subscribers.
A factor behind this growth is the recent offering of packages of services with promotional prices, which have been launched by the main providers of the cable television services.
This increase in the number of subscribers is explained by the significant growth seen in the North region where 32 thousand new subscribers were recorded in comparison to the same quarter of 2006. This increase in the number of subscribers occurred above all in the zone of Greater Porto, where the 3 main operators are present.
At the end of 2007, Cable television service subscribers represented around 27% of all Portuguese households.
The Autonomous Region of Madeira and the Alentejo remain respectively the regions with the highest and lowest penetration of the service of cable television.
The penetration rate, calculated in terms of cabled households stood at around 40%.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, the distribution of subscribers of cable television by region remained practically unaltered. Almost half of the total number of cable television subscribers were concentrated in Lisbon, 48.5%.
At the end of 2007, the television distribution service using Direct To Home (DTH) technology had 476 thousand subscribers, 3.9% more than in the previous quarter and 9.3% more than in the same quarter of 2006. In absolute terms, this translates to 18 thousand more subscribers during the quarter.
The North and Centre Regions continue to have the highest number of subscribers to this service, both with over 30% of the total.
Consult:
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