By the end of 2020, mobile voice traffic increased by 16.4% compared to 2019. The evolution that occurred in voice traffic in minutes was influenced by COVID-19. It is estimated that, due to the effect of the pandemic, average traffic per mobile access grew by 11.9% in 2020.
The number of conversation minutes per mobile voice access averaged 238 per month, up 34 minutes (+16.4%) compared to 2019. The average call duration was 196 seconds per call, up 35 seconds (+21.9%) compared to the previous year.
As far as the type of call is concerned, the high growth in voice traffic in minutes was mainly the result of the increase in off-net (+23.3%) and on-net (+13.3%) traffic. Significant increases were also observed in mobile-fixed traffic (+21.4%), and in calls to short and non-geographic numbers (+17.5%). Traffic to international networks decreased by 21.8% compared to 2019, driven by the effects of the pandemic.
Mobile broadband (MBB) internet traffic rose by 28.1% compared to 2019. The growth observed is mainly explained by the increase in the frequency of use of the service. The average monthly traffic per active mobile Internet user increased by 24.3% when compared to the same period in the previous year. Each MBB user consumed an average of 4.8 GB per month. The average PC/tablet/pen/router monthly traffic reached 22.3 GB (+42.5%). The summer seasonal effect and, in addition, the possible impact of COVID-19 and promotional offers launched by larger providers in Q2 / 2020, also accounted for this evolution, especially as far as PC/tablet/pen/router offers are concerned.
The number of mobile accesses entitled to use the service amounted to 17.2 million, 12.4 million of which (72.1% of the total) were actually used. If we exclude the number of PC/tablet/pen/router accesses, the number of mobile accesses reached 11.9 million. The number of subscribers who actually used the service decreased by 62 thousand subscribers (-0.5%), compared to the previous year. This is explained by the evolution of prepaid plans (-7.3% in the last 12 months), which have declined since 2013, and now represent 38.5% of all accesses actually used. Post-paid and hybrid plans (+4.3% in the last 12 months) maintained the growth trend that has been observed since 2012. This trend is associated with the continued increase in the penetration of packages integrating the mobile phone service.
By the end of 2020, the mobile service penetration had reached 166.6 per 100 inhabitants. If we only take into account mobile accesses that were actually used (excluding machine-to-machine applications - M2M), the penetration rate in Portugal would be 120, a figure that would fall to 115.1 per 100 inhabitants if accesses exclusively allocated to data services and Internet access (PC/tablet/pen/router cards) were excluded. The penetration rate of mobile accesses marketed as a package, or including services provided at a fixed location was 46.9 per 100 inhabitants (converging packages).
The number of effective users of the mobile Internet access service stood at 8.1 million, down 0.5% from the end of the previous year, due to the reduction in mobility associated to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that, as a result of the pandemic, the number of mobile Internet users will have decreased by 4.2% in 2020. If the pandemic had not occurred, the number of mobile Internet users would have increased by 7.3% compared to the previous year.
As regards roaming traffic, it recorded decreases in all types of traffic year-on-year, with Internet traffic standing out (-26% for roaming in and -17.3% for roaming out). Internet traffic had been growing at rates above 50% in the last five years.
The roaming in - roaming out traffic coverage rate in minutes was 89%. In the last 5 years, the roaming balance (roaming in - roaming out) was surplus only in 2017. On the contrary, in the case of internet access, roaming in traffic is substantially higher than roaming out traffic. In 2020, the volume of traffic roaming in was 3.4 times higher than that roaming out.
As regards providers’ shares of mobile accesses that were actually used, MEO suffered a fall of 1.3 percentage points to 40.6%, followed by Vodafone, which maintained its share at around 30.2%, and NOS, whose share rose 1 percentage point to 26.4%. NOWO’s share rose 0.3 points to 1.7%, as a result of the launch of offers with significantly lower prices than the available alternatives.
In the case of mobile broadband Internet subscriber shares, MEO’s share rose 0.2 points to 38.6%, followed by NOS with 30.5%, up 1.3 percentage points compared to the same period in the previous year, and Vodafone with 28.4%, two percentage points less. NOWO/Onitelecom increased its share by 0.5 points to 2.2%.
NOS holds the largest share of mobile broadband Internet traffic, which grew by 3.2 percentage points to 45.8%. It is followed by MEO with 27.5%, 0.8 points less, and Vodafone with 26.3%, 2.4 percentage points less than the same period the previous year.
Consult the statistical report:
- Mobile services - 2020 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1604091
