At the end of the second quarter of 2009, the barrier of 15 million subscribers to the mobile telephone service in Portugal was broken with a 0.7 per cent increase in the total number of subscribers compared to the previous quarter and a 5 per cent increase compared to the same quarter of 2008 - the lowest year-on-year increase of recent years. The increase in the number of subscribers is associated with factors including sign-up to data services based on UMTS, which typically involve the payment of a monthly fee.
Pre-paid cards were still used by 72.4 per cent (10.89 million) of MTS subscribers, in spite of a reduction of 0.5 per cent over the 1st quarter of 2009, the second consecutive quarterly decline. Compared to the second quarter of 2008, pre-paid cards grew by 0.9 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of post-paid cards continued to increase, rising 4.1 per cent in the second quarter in comparison to the previous quarter and by 17.6 per cent over the same quarter of 2008 - post-paid models covered 4.14 million subscribers (27.6 per cent of the total).
At the end of second quarter of 2009, the penetration rate of the MTS had risen to 141.5 per 100 inhabitants. At a European Union level, according to available information, the penetration rate recorded in Portugal (140.4 per 100 inhabitants) remains above the EU average (121.5 per 100 inhabitants).
It should be noted that analysis of the figure given for the number of subscribers and the MTS penetration rate should take into account of the existence of users who have more than one card to access the service, of SIM cards used exclusively for Internet access and data services and cards used in machines, equipment, vehicles and companies (mobile payment terminals, alarm equipment, security, telemetry and telematics, etc.).
In terms of UMTS services, during second quarter of 2009, the number of users rose above 5.2 million, of which 1.78 million were active, 12.8 per cent more than in the previous quarter and 85.1 per cent more than in first quarter 2009. Potential users of UMTS/HSPA services represent 34.8 per cent of the total number of MTS subscribers, while 11.9 per cent of total mobile subscribers were reported as being active users.
The UMTS penetration rate at the end of second quarter 2009 stood at 49.2 per 100 inhabitants and according to available information, with reference to 1Q09, the penetration rate then recorded in Portugal (45.5 per 100 inhabitants) was above the EU average (21,4 per 100 inhabitants).
MTS subscribers made a total of 2 billion calls between April and June 2009, 0.4 per cent more than in the previous quarter and 9.5 per cent more than in the second quarter of 2008. Over the same period, the number of calls received on the mobile network was over 2 billion, a value which represents an increase of 5.3 per cent over the previous quarter and an increase of 9 per cent year-on-year. Fixed-mobile traffic saw the largest fall, compared to the same period of 2008, declining by 12.7 per cent.
The number of conversation minutes originating on mobile networks during the period being reported totalled 4.3 billion minutes, an increase of 4.6 per cent over the previous quarter and by 17 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. The number of minutes terminated on mobile networks also totalled over 4.3 billion minutes, a 5 per cent increase over the previous quarter.
During the second quarter of 2009, 6.4 billion text messages were sent, which is 6 per cent higher than the figure reported for the previous quarter. On average 143 messages were sent per month by each subscriber, while 22.5 million MMS messages were sent, which is 13.8 per cent more than in the previous period and 17.9 per cent more than in the same period of 2008. Additionally, 1.3 million video-calls were made during fourth quarter 2008, 2.1 per cent more than in the previous quarter. The conversation time associated with these calls also increased (by around 1.7 per cent over the previous quarter).
As far as the use of roaming is concerned, roaming in traffic recorded an increase of 48.2 per cent in the quarter being reported, compared to the previous quarter, with an increase of 41.8 per cent in minutes and 79 per cent in messages, which may be associated with the Easter period. Meanwhile roaming out traffic grew by 8.2, 7.2 and 7.4 per cent in terms of calls, minutes and messages respectively.
Consult:
- Mobile Telephone Service - 2nd quarter 2009 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=975256
