The European Commission today presented its 14th implementation report, which provides an overview of the European telecommunications market and the state of competition in the 27 European Union countries.
The report on progress made in the single market of telecommunications in 2008 says that in Portugal "the monthly cost for an average Portuguese mobile phone user, which could be as low as €17.03, was below the EU average (19.49€) in 2008. Only three countries have a greater penetration of mobile phone services than Portugal (137%). Competition in the Portuguese fixed phone and broadband internet markets has increased due to the separation of the two nationwide networks; still, it is far from dynamic. Portuguese fixed broadband services have one of the lowest growth rates in the EU even though mobile broadband is increasing with the penetration rate for data cards at 8.3%. The regulator is paying more attention to some consumer issues, such as number portability, which allows customers to change operator while keeping the same phone number. The review of the existing regulation in the markets is still the main challenge ahead.''
In general terms, the European Commission stresses that despite the economic crisis, the EU's telecoms sector (worth about 3% of EU GDP) continued to grow in 2008 with revenues estimated at above €300 billion, up 1.3% compared to 2007 and outperforming the rest of the economy (up by 1% only). However, the Commission's report also warns that without better European coordination, the benefits of a single telecoms market could be jeopardised by inconsistent national regulation.
Consult:
- Mobile use up, consumer prices down: Europe's telecoms sector weathering economic downturn, says Commission report http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/473&format=HTML&aged=0&language=PT&guiLanguage=en
See also:
- Portugal is the EU country with the largest number of subscribers using alternative operators for direct access https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=887200
