In July 2021, telecommunications prices in Portugal, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) sub-index, increased by 0.3% compared to the previous month due to changes in some bundled offers. Compared to July 2020, prices increased by 1.3%.
Since January 2021, telecommunications prices have increased by 1.9%, 0.5 percentage points above CPI, due to increased monthly charges for bundled offers.
In July 2021, the average rate of change in telecommunications prices in Portugal was lower than in the European Union (-0.5 percentage points), corresponding to the 15th highest average rate of change in the last twelve months among EU countries. The country that reported the largest increase in prices was Poland (+5.8%), while the largest reduction occurred in Denmark (-3.6%). On average, EU telecommunications prices fell by 0.1%.
Between April 2011 and May 2019, telecommunications prices rose by more in Portugal than in the EU (in terms of the average rate of change over the preceding twelve months). In accumulated terms, between the end of 2009 and July 2021, telecommunications prices in Portugal increased by 8.4%, while in the EU they decreased by 9.7%.
Trend in telecommunications prices in Portugal and in the EU (2009M12 = Base 100)
Unit: index (2009M12 = Base 100)
Source: ANACOM, based on Eurostat data
Note: EU telecom prices from December 2016 differ from those published previously due to changes made by Eurostat. Information up to November 2016 was compiled on 16 March 2018. Information from December 2016 onwards was compiled on 18 August 2021.
On 15 May 2019, new European rules governing the prices of intra-EU communications entered into force, contributing to the fact that, since June 2019, the variation in telecommunications prices in Portugal has been lower than the EU average, which also resulted from a reduction in the monthly charges for some post-paid mobile broadband offers via PC/Tablet and some bundled offers. However, the existing divergence between prices was not eliminated.
A more detailed comparative analysis shows that, between the end of 2009 and July 2021, telecommunications prices fell by 22.1% in France, by 17.1% in Italy and by 8.7% in Spain. Over the same period, prices in Portugal increased by 8.4%.
According to the report "Trends in Telecommunications Prices", released today by ANACOM, the lowest monthly charges available in July are offered by NOWO in seven cases out of a range of 13 services/offers, while MEO reported the lowest monthly charges for four types of services/offers, NOS for two types of services/offers and Vodafone for one type of services/offers.
Changes recorded in prices
In year-on-year terms, there were 31 price increases and three decreases. The following price variations stand out:
- The lowest monthly charge for the Mobile Telephone Service with internet increased by 4.3%, due to discontinuation of NOWO's offer with a monthly charge of five euros;
- The lowest monthly charges for 4P offers increased by 8.3% due to discontinuation of NOWO's mobile telephone service option with a monthly charge of five euros, and 1.3% due to discontinuation of NOWO's TV option at 2.5 euros, making a total of 9.8%;
- The lowest monthly charge for 5P offers increased by 4.3%, as Vodafone discontinued its offer of a free first monthly charge of the basic service;
- The lowest monthly charges for FBB+STV (+11.1%), STV+FTS and 3P (+10.0%) offers increased following discontinuation of the TV option from NOWO at 2.5 euros. Additionally, the monthly charge for the STV+FTS offer increased by 77.6% with the discontinuation of an offer from NOS, making a total of 95.4%;
- The lowest monthly charge for STV increased by 30.8% with the discontinuation of an offer from NOS;
- The minimum monthly charge for Mobile Broadband via PC/Tablet increased by 4.3%, as MEO discontinued its offer of a free first monthly charge of the basic service:
Looking by provider, MEO reduced the minimum monthly charge for one service/offer in relation to June 2020 and increased the monthly charge for eight services/offers. The MEO service with a significant decrease in the monthly charge was the mobile telephone service offer with mobile phone Internet (UZO offer). NOS increased minimum monthly charges for eight services/offers and decreased the monthly charge for one offer (mobile telephone service with mobile phone Internet - WOO offer). Vodafone increased minimum monthly charges for seven services/offers and decreased the monthly charge for one offer (mobile internet broadband via PC/tablet). In turn, NOWO increased minimum monthly charges for eight services/offers.
There were notable increases in the monthly charges for 3P offers ("triple play") by MEO, NOS and Vodafone during October and November 2020 and in the monthly charges for 4P and 5P "quadruple and quintuple play" offers of MEO, NOS and Vodafone in May and June 2021.
In May 2021, Lycamobile launched a mobile services offer with a monthly charge of 15 euros, with 20 GB of mobile data traffic and 1000 voice minutes or 1000 SMS messages. The pricing of this offer is still higher than charged by this same provider in other markets, but is attractive in comparison to other offers of the main providers in Portugal. In fact, for mobile data ceilings starting at 10 GB, the monthly fee for this Lycamobile offer is substantially lower. On the other hand, for similar monthly fee levels, the amount of traffic offered by the other providers is significantly lower.
Consult the statistical report:
- Trends in telecommunications prices - July 2021 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1702240
