In the 1st quarter of 2020, the number of subscribers of bundled service offers reached 4.1 million, 171 thousand customers more than in the same period of the previous year, reflecting growth of 4.4%. This increase was primarily due to the growth of the quadruple/quintuple play (4/5P) offers, which recorded 126 thousand new customers and, to a lesser extent, the triple play (3P) offers, which recorded 64 thousand new customers. In the two play (2P) offers, the number of customers declined from 441 thousand to 422 thousand at the end of March.
The 4/5P offers were the most used offers during the 1st quarter, with 2.05 million subscribers, accounting for 49.9% of the total customers of the bundles, followed by the 3P offers, with 1.64 million subscribers, representing 39.8% of the customers.
The percentage growth of the 4/5P offers (6.5%) slowed down in relation to 2019 (12.5% at the end of the year), when there was a migration from bundles with less services (2P and 3P) to offers with a higher number of services (4/5P).
In the quarter, in terms of customer shares, MEO was the provider with the largest share of bundled service subscribers accounting for 40.4%, followed by the NOS Group with 37%, Vodafone with 18.8%, and the NOWO/Onitelecom Group with 3.7%. Vodafone was the only provider that increased its share year-on-year, by 0.7%.
The state of emergency associated to Covid-19, which was enforced on 19 March, did not have a significant impact on the total subscribers of bundles.
Revenues of bundles increased by 5.3%
From 1 January to 31 March, the revenues of bundled services amounted to close to 429.6 million euros, having increased by 5.3% in relation to the same period of the previous year. This increased revenue occurred simultaneously with the increased number of subscribers and with the announced “price adjustments” made by some providers.
Revenue from the 4/5P offers reached close to 271 million euros at the end of March (6% more), equivalent to 63% of total revenue. This was followed by the 3P offers with revenue of 135 million euros (6.2% more), accounting for 31.4% of the total, and 2P offers which are responsible for 24 million euros of revenue (a reduction of 6.8%), representing 5.6% of the total revenues of bundled services.
Concerning shares of revenue, the NOS Group was the provider with the largest share (41.8%), followed by MEO (40.5%), Vodafone (15%) and the NOWO/Onitelecom Group (2.6%). In relation to the same quarter of the previous year, Vodafone increased its share of revenue by 1.3 points and all the other operators recorded a reduction.
Consult the statistical report:
- Bundled services for electronic communications - 1st quarter 2020 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1547401
