Summary
Portugal completes protracted 5G auction, sees new market entrants
Portugal’s mobile market has long been dominated by the triopoly of Altice Portugal, NOS, and Vodafone Portugal.
The MVNOs collectively have only managed to secure about 3% of the market, by subscribers. This dominance of the main players is expected to be reduced following the auction recently completed by the regulator, which saw the market entry of Dixarobil and Nowo. Both will provide 5G services. The auction marked the entry of Romania’s Digi in Portugal’s mobile market, as also of Másmóvil which had hitherto focussed on fibre deployment in Lisbon and Oporto.
The MVNOs collectively have only managed to secure about 3% of the market, by subscribers. This dominance of the main players is expected to be reduced following the auction recently completed by the regulator, which saw the market entry of Dixarobil and Nowo. Both will provide 5G services. The auction marked the entry of Romania’s Digi in Portugal’s mobile market, as also of Másmóvil which had hitherto focussed on fibre deployment in Lisbon and Oporto.
Key developments:
5G auction is completed, with three new entrants;
Eutelsat and Hispasat sign deal to provide wholesale satellite capacity on the EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite;
Social broadband tariff for low-income households to come into effect in early 2022;
EC opens infringement procedures against 24 EU member states for failing to enact the European Electronic Communications Code into national legislation;
Competition Authority fines MEO €84 million for anti-competitive behaviour;
Másmóvil becomes sole shareholder of Nowo;
Fixed broadband internet traffic up 53% in the third quarter of 2020, FttP accounting for 53.8% of fixed broadband accesses;
Vodafone and NOS sign a network-sharing agreement, NOS sells towers to Cellnex;
EU to investigate whether the regulator’s draft 5G auction terms contain state aid;
Altice Portugal assesses feasibility of tender for the installation of the undersea cables between the mainland, the Azores and Madeira;
Equiano (Google) submarine cable due for completion later in 2021;
Portugal aims for 90% LTE coverage in rural areas by 2025;
Report update includes the regulator’s market data to Q3 2020, telcos’ operating and financial data to December 2020, assessment of the global impact of Covid-19 on the telecoms sector, recent market developments.
Companies mentioned in this report:
Altice Portugal (MEO), NOS (Optimus, Zon Multimédia), Vodafone Portugal, CTT, Lycamobile, Sonaecom, Cabovisão. Google, Másmóvil, Oni Communications, Nowo, RedCLARA
