The report "The Electronic Communications Consumer 2015", realised by ANACOM today, World Consumer Rights Day, reveals that the consumption profile of telecommunications services in the residential segment has changed in recent years - more and more people have been consuming more services. In 2015, about 75% of individuals (the report considers individuals aged 15 years or over) used 3 or more telecommunications services, versus 59% in 2011.
Considering the five services: fixed telephone, mobile telephone, fixed and mobile broadband and subscription-TV, it can be seen that, in 2015, they were used by a third of individuals, versus only 13% in 2011.
According to the characterisation performed in the report, 73% of households have bundles of services, 40% have access to fixed broadband via optical fibre, 38% of individuals have mobile broadband and 67% of mobile phone users have smartphones.
The consumption of over-the-top (OTT) services among Internet users has been growing. The use of the Internet to make voice calls through applications such as Skype or WhatsApp was reported at 49% in 4th quarter 2015, while instant messaging services and online video are still the most commonly used (71% and 68% of Internet users used these services, respectively).
Meanwhile, the percentage of individuals who have never used the internet has been decreasing. In fact, in 2015, 28% of individuals (aged between 16 and 74 years) have never used the internet, falling from 32% in 2014; this value is far removed from the European average - 16%. The deviation from the EU average is even more evident among older people (27% use the internet in Portugal versus 45% in the EU28), people with a low education level (49% in Portugal versus 59% in the EU), retired people (32% in Portugal versus 53% in the EU) and people on lower incomes (there is a difference of about 20 percentage points compared to the EU). In the case of consumers aged up to 44 years, Portugal's performance improves and the national average is in line with the European average (89%).
In the case of individuals with a higher level of education (especially those with secondary education) Portugal (95.6%) stands out for being well above the EU28 average (83%) in use of the Internet access service (13 percentage points higher). Among those with further education, Portugal still has a higher level of Internet use, 98.4% versus 96% in the EU28.
Overall, residential users of electronic communications services were found to be satisfied with the services provided. At the end of 2015, users of the fixed telephone and subscription television service were those who reported the highest level of overall satisfaction - 8.5 points and 8.4 points out of 10 respectively- overtaking the satisfaction reported by mobile service customers (8.3 points), who were usually the most satisfied. Customers of bundles of services reported one of the lowest levels of average satisfaction (7.7) and the greatest propensity to switch operator.
The individuals most likely to be "dissatisfied" with electronic communications services are those with a higher level of education, middle aged, middle or senior managers, belonging to large households and of a higher social class.
Looking at the business segment, the Internet access service has been growing, reaching 98% in 2015 (above the EU28 average). About 94% of companies had broadband, an increase of 11 percentage points versus 2011; and 68% had mobile broadband, an increase of 29 percentage points since 2011. Consequently, there is also notable growth in the use of OTT services by businesses - the messaging service is used by 37.3% of the businesses surveyed and voice calls are used by 27.2% of businesses. Cloud computing services are used by 11.4% of micro, small and medium-sized companies surveyed, and by 31% of large companies.
