ANACOM has published the report “O consumidor de comunicações eletrónicashttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1739021” (The electronic communications consumer) in Portugal for 2022, describing residential consumers, business users and non-users of electronic communications services. This information, which results from current sample surveys, reflects the user’s perception of access to electronic communications services and the barriers to accessing them, and may differ from information collected from providers.
In 2022, most Portuguese households reported having some fixed electronic communications service (93%). The service with the highest number of users was the pay-TV signal distribution service or PTV (87.9%), followed by the Internet access service at a fixed location or fixed IAS (82.6%) and the fixed telephone service or FTS (73.1%). Mobile broadband on mobile phone or PC/tablet/pen/router (MBB) was used by 48.3% of households. These data are based on the Survey on ICT Usage in Households.
In 2022, the Internet access service (fixed or mobile) was used by 88.2% of families, 0.9 p.p. more than in the previous year and 8.7 p.p. more than in the last four years. Portugal has come closer to the average values registered in the European Union (EU27), standing in 2022 5 p.p. below the European average.
From an individual perspective, around 85% of the individuals stated that they had used the Internet in the three months prior to the interview (3 p.p. more than the previous year and 5 p.p. less than the European average).
The combination of services most used by households (not necessarily in a bundle and not including mobile telephone service) consisted of FTS, fixed broadband (FBB), PTV and MBB (34.8%), followed by the three fixed services FTS+FBB+PTV (28.6%). The third most used combination of services did not include fixed telephone service and consisted of FBB+PTV+MBB (9.1%). The overwhelming majority of individuals aged 16 to 74 used a mobile telephone service (97%).
In 2022, 85.6% of households reported having bundled offers.
PTV was the service most subscribed to in bundled offers (93.9% of households with bundled services), followed by FBB (90.8%) and FTS (78.2%).
The presence of mobile services in bundled offers is increasingly common. Around 73.1% of households with a bundle of services said that their bundle included mobile telephone service (MTS), 68.4% Internet via mobile phone and 11.5% MBB via PC/tablet/pen/router.
The Lisbon Metropolitan Area (Lisbon M.A.) and the Autonomous Regions of the Azores (A.R. Azores) and Madeira (A.R. Madeira) recorded a higher proportion of households with access to fixed electronic communications services and bundled services. In the particular case of PTV and bundled services, penetration was over 90% in these regions. For fixed IAS, penetration ranged between 86% and 89% in these regions, and for FTS, the penetration rate was between 76% and 82%.
MBB penetration recorded a lower regional disparity. The regions of Lisbon M.A., A.R. Madeira and Algarve registered MBB penetrations greater than or equal to 50%.
Individuals who are younger, better educated, in employment or student status and on higher incomes tend to report higher penetration of electronic communications services.
FTS penetration follows a different pattern according to the age structure by recording above average subscription values for those aged 65 and above and below average subscription values for those aged 25 to 44.
With regard to the business segment, in Portugal, Internet penetration among micro-enterprises was 87% and among small businesses it was 97%. Almost all medium-sized and large companies had an Internet access service or IAS. Amongst companies with 10 or more employees, Internet access penetration was 95% (1 p.p. above the EU27 average) - data from the European Commission (EC), based on the Information and Communication Technologies Usage in Enterprises sample survey.
With regard to MBB, around 70% of micro-companies and 86% of companies with 10 or more employees provided their employees with portable devices enabling a mobile Internet connection for professional purposes. The annual growth in MBB penetration was most significant among micro-companies (+21 p.p.) while companies with 10 or more employees saw the largest annual increase in the last decade (+17 p.p.).
The penetration of FBB and MBB in Portugal stood above the EU27 average in almost all business sizes and in most sectors of activity.
With regard to the non-use of electronic communications services, in the case of households, the reason most frequently mentioned for not having an FTS at home was mostly the fixed/mobile substitution: “they use a mobile phone” (74%).
The non-use of PTV is mainly related to financial reasons (41% mentioned that it is “too expensive”) and to the non-use of the service (29% mentioned that “the non-paid channels are enough” and 17% mentioned that they “do not have time or are not used to watching television”).
The main reason for families not having access to the Internet was issues related to digital literacy: “does not know how to use it” (48%); followed by financial reasons associated with the high cost of access and equipment (15% and 9%, respectively). The non-use of the service was also mentioned as a barrier to its use, although less frequently.
In the case of PTV and FTS, individuals with a lower level of education or unemployed were the most likely to not have these services in their homes. The employed population was another group that showed a higher likelihood not to have a fixed telephone and the retired population was one of the groups most likely not to have PTV.
There is a greater tendency for older individuals to have never used the IAS or to not have PTV. The non-use of a fixed telephone tends to be more significant among individuals aged 25 to 44.
Households with lower incomes showed a higher likelihood not to have electronic communications services, reaching 34% for FTS, 27% for PTV and 23% for IAS.
Persons living in the Alentejo and Algarve regions recorded the highest proportion of households without FTS, while those living in the North, Alentejo and Centre regions recorded a higher tendency not to use the IAS and PTV.
