By the end of 2022, the number of residential customers of high-speed services at a fixed location reached 3.5 million, an increase by 6.5% compared to the previous year (+8.1% in 2021). It should be noted that around nine out of ten new high-speed network customers have subscribed to a service based on fibre optic networks (FTTH).
By the end of the period under review, 84.8% of households had already subscribed to high-speed services at a fixed location1. The regions of Lisbon (97.6%), the Azores (94.4%), Madeira (92.3%) and the Algarve (88.8%) recorded above-average penetration rates. On the other hand, the North (81.0%), Centre (76.8%) and Alentejo (66.8%) regions, where penetration of these services is lower, grew faster than the national average.
By the end of 2022, 89.0% of fixed broadband accesses were ultrafast broadband accesses (i.e. download speed2 greater than or equal to 100 Mbps), an increase of 2.8 p.p. compared to the previous year. Broadband lines with download speeds between 100 Mbps and 400 Mbps accounted for 48.5% (-6.8 p.p. compared to the previous year), 33.7% had speeds between 400 Mbps and 1 Gbps (+6.2 p.p. compared to 2021) and lines with speeds greater than or equal to 1 Gbps accounted for 6.8% (+3.4 p.p.).
In July 2022, according to the European Commission, Portugal was the 4th EU27 country with the highest proportion of connections with download speeds of 100 Mbps or more (87.4%).
It is estimated that at least 6 million households were connected to a high-speed network, 2.1% more than last year. This growth was lower than that recorded a year ago (3.8% year-on-year). High-speed network coverage was 93.9%, 1.9 percentage points (p.p.) higher than in 2021.
On a regional basis, the Lisbon metropolitan area, Madeira and the Azores had an above-average penetration rate. On the other hand, there was an increase in the number of cabled households in the Algarve (+4.4%), the Centre (+3.6%), the North (+2.4%) and the Alentejo (+1.6%), regions where the coverage of high-speed networks has come closer to the national average, thus strengthening territorial cohesion. It is estimated that around 68.1% of the homes and businesses covered by cable were actually used to provide services to residential and non-residential customers.
The number of homes connected to fibre optic cable (FTTH - Fibre to the Home) rose to around 5.9 million, 2.5% more than in the same period of the previous year (it had grown 5.8% in 2021), reaching a coverage of 91.9%.
By the end of 2022, the proportion of cabled households and businesses with FTTH actually used reached 48.5%. The Azores, the North and the Lisbon regions had higher FTTH penetration rates than the national average. Only two regions, the Algarve and Madeira, had a rate below 47%. Inter-regional asymmetries have become less distinct.
The number of cabled households with high-speed access supported by cable TV networks (HFC - Hybrid Fibre Coaxial) remained unchanged compared to 2021, totalling 3.7 million. The coverage of this type of network was 57.5%.
1 This report uses the final results of the 2021 Census for private households (for ease of reference, “families”'). For this reason, penetration figures are not comparable with those in previous reports.
2 Maximum speeds advertised by operators and communicated to consumers.
Consult the statistical report:
- High-speed networks and services at a fixed location - 2022 https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1742392
