Synopsis
Portugal has a medium-sized telecom market with a strong mobile
sector and a growing broadband customer base focussed on the delivery of
fibre-based services. The country¡¯s difficult economic conditions have seen
operators¡¯ domestic revenue fall in recent quarters. This has resulted in
considerable ownership changes in the market. Cogeco sold the flagging
Cabovisão in early 2012 for a considerable loss. Sonaecom¡¯s Optimus division
was merged with Zon Multimédia in mid-2013, becoming Zon Optimus before being
rebranded as NOS. The incumbent Portugal Telecom, following a poorly managed
link up with the Brazilian telco Oi and a disastrous investment in a failed
bank, was sold to Altice Group, a deal which also saw Altice obliged to sell
the cableco Cabovisão as well as Oni Telecom.
This report introduces the major elements of the Portuguese
telecom market, presenting statistics on the fixed telephony sector as well as
an analysis of the major market players. Additional information is provided on
the key regulatory issues, noting the status of interconnection, local loop
unbundling, number portability and carrier preselection.
Key developments:
New cable to link Portugal with Brazil; PT announces plan to
replace copper network with FttP by 2020; Zon Optimus rebrands as NOS; PT
eliminates special rights granted to the government¡¯s golden shares; AR Telecom
exits residential market; PT sold by Oi to the Altice Group for ¢æ7.4 billion;
PT opens Europe¡¯s largest data centre; report update includes the regulator¡¯s
market data to Q4 2015, telcos¡¯ operating and financial data to Q4 2015, recent
market developments.
Companies mentioned in this report:
Meo (TMN), NOS (Optimus, Zon Multimédia), Vodafone.
