Portugal Communications - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 5,087,977

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 49.33 (2019 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 11,909,751

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 115.46 (2019 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment:

Portugal has a medium-sized telecom market with a strong mobile sector and a growing broadband customer base; mobile market dominated by one operator with room for competition; 3G infrastructure is universal, with investment directed towards provision of 90% LTE coverage in rural areas and 5G technologies; cable sector shifting to fiber, with access to 66% of population; developments in m-commerce; operator assessing installation of submarine cable between islands and mainland; importer of broadcasting equipment from EU (2021)

(2020)

domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations; fixed-line 50 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular 116 per 100 persons (2019)

international: country code - 351; landing points for the Ella Link, BUGIO, EIG, SAT-3/WASC, SeaMeWe-3, Equino, MainOne, Tat TGN-Western Europe, WACS, ACE, Atlantis2 and Columbus-III submarine cables provide connectivity to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, South America and the US; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadcast media

Radio e Televisao de Portugal (RTP), the publicly owned TV broadcaster, operates 4 domestic channels and external service channels to Africa; overall, roughly 40 domestic TV stations; viewers have widespread access to international broadcasters with more than half of all households connected to multi-channel cable or satellite TV systems; publicly owned radio operates 3 national networks and provides regional and external services; several privately owned national radio stations and some 300 regional and local commercial radio stations

Internet country code

.pt

Internet users

total: 7,731,411

percent of population: 74.66% (July 2018 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 3,967,699

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 38.47 (2019 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Portugal on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Portugal 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Portugal 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.