Portugal Communications - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 5,318,750 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 52 (2021 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 12,476,165 (2021 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 121 (2021 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: Portugal has a medium-sized telecom market with a strong mobile sector and a growing broadband customer base; before the pandemic, the country had seen improving economic growth, following several years of austerity measures; revenue among some operators remains under pressure, though investments in network upgrades are continuing in an effort to attract customers to high-end services; Portugal’s broadband services have grown steadily in recent years, largely the result of joint efforts between the regulator and the key market operators which have invested in significant infrastructure upgrades; these operators are focused on fiber-based services, resulting in a migration of subscribers from digital subscriber line DSL infrastructure; the government has also supported open-access wholesale networks; the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market remains largely undeveloped, partly because network operators have their own low-cost brands; collectively, MVNOs have about 2.9% share of the market; population coverage by 3G infrastructure is universal, and most investment in the sector is being directed to LTE and 5G technologies; the MNOs have trialed 5G and are looking to launch commercial services (2021)

domestic: fixed-lineis 52 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular is 121 per 100 persons (2021)

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)

Broadcast media

Radio e Televisao de Portugal, 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: 8.2 million (2021 est.)

percent of population: 82% (2021 est.)

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 4,160,795 (2020 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 41 (2020 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Portugal on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Portugal 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Portugal 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.