ANACOM - Portuguese Communications Authority

07/05/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 07/05/2024 08:19

Fixed broadband Internet traffic reaches new all-time high

In the first quarter of 2024 (1Q2024), the penetration rate of fixed broadband residential customers was 91.5 per 100 households, representing a 0.2 percentage point (p.p.) decrease compared to the same period last year. This decline was driven by an increase in the National Statistics Institute's annual estimate of private households.

Compared to the same period last year, there was an increase of 126 thousand fixed broadband accesses (+2,8%), bringing the total to 4.6 million.

Fibre optic (FTTH/B) was the main driver of access growth and also the main form of fixed broadband Internet access, reaching 66.8% of total accesses, 2.4 p.p. more than in the 1st quarter of 2023. In the last 12 months, the number of fibre optic accesses increased by 193 thousand accesses (+6.7%).

The number of accesses supported by cable modem networks decreased by 1.5% and accounted for 25.2% of the total (-1.1 p.p. compared to 12 months ago). The number of fixed accesses supported by mobile networks decreased by 3.2% and accounted for 5.2% of the total (-0.3 p.p.). The number of ADSL accesses continued its downward trend, falling by 27.6% as a result of replacement by new generation accesses, representing 2.5% of total Internet accesses at a fixed location at the end of the first quarter (-1.1 p.p.).

In terms of access speed, in the first quarter of 2024, 91.0% of fixed broadband accesses offered ultrafast broadband (i.e. download speed reater than or equal to 100 Mbps).

According to the latest available European data from July 2023, Portugal had the 4th highest proportion of access with download speeds of 100 Mbps or more in the European Union.

The increase in the share of ultrafast broadband accesses has been accompanied by the development of fibre optic (FTTH/B) networks and the introduction of DOCSIS 3.x in cable TV networks. These two network types accounted for 72% and 27% of 100 Mbps and above accesses respectively.

In the first quarter of 2024, total fixed broadband internet traffic increased by 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. The average monthly traffic per access was around 308 GB, 14.0% more than in 1Q2023. Both the total traffic and the average monthly traffic per access reached new historical highs.

In the markets for fixed broadband Internet access services, there are four providers with significant subscriber shares: MEO (41.1%), Grupo NOS (33.7%), Vodafone (22%) and NOWO (2.7%). Compared to the same quarter last year, the shares of Vodafone and MEO increased by 0.2 p.p. and 0.1 p.p. respectively, while the shares of Grupo NOS and NOWO decreased by 0.3 p.p. and 0.1 p.p. respectively. MEO was the operator with the highest net additions.

Looking at residential accesses only, MEO had the highest share of subscribers (39.4%), followed by Grupo NOS (35.9%), Vodafone (21.2%) and NOWO (3.1%). Compared with the same quarter last year, the shares of Vodafone and MEO increased by 0.3 p.p. and 0.1 p.p. respectively, while the shares of Grupo NOS and NOWO decreased by 0.3 p.p. and 0.2 p.p. respectively.

In terms of fixed broadband traffic shares, MEO reached 43.1% in the 1st quarter of 2024, followed by Grupo NOS with 29.7% and Vodafone with 23.7%. NOWO's share was 1.5%. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2023, the traffic share of MEO increased (+0.8 p.p.), while the shares of Vodafone, NOWO and Grupo NOS decreased by 0.4 p.p., 0.3 p.p. and 0.1 p.p., respectively.

Following the entry into force of Regulation No 643/2023, of 6 Junehttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1745754(only available in Portuguese), which replaced Regulation No 255/2017, of 16 Mayhttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1415433, on the provision of statistical information, the report shows some differences from the reports presented in previous quarters. In particular, it now includes information broken down by residential and non-residential segments for some indicators, and there may be a break in the series for some indicators.

Consult the statistical report: