Executive Summary
Penetration of mobile services with actual use reached 128.4 per 100 inhabitants
At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2024, mobile penetration was 175.9 per 100 inhabitants. If only mobile accesses with actual use1 are considered (excluding M2M2), the penetration rate in Portugal would be 128.4. In addition, if accesses used exclusively for data services and Internet access (cards associated with PC/tablet/pen/router) are also excluded, the penetration rate would be 120.7 per 100 inhabitants.
Mobile accesses sold together with fixed services (i.e. in convergent bundles) had a penetration rate of 58.4 per 100 inhabitants3.
The number of mobile accesses authorised for the use of mobile services was 18.7 million. Of these, 13.7 million (73.0% of the total) were actually used. Excluding the number of PC/tablet/pen/router accesses, the number of mobile accesses was 12.8 million.
Number of users increased by 0.3% in the last 12 months
The number of subscribers actually using the service increased by 37 thousand (+0.3%) compared to the end of 2Q2023. This evolution is explained by the greater use of post-paid and hybrid plans (+6.5% in the last 12 months), which represent 70.9% of the total number of accesses actually used. The number of prepaid plans decreased by 12.2% year-on-year.
73.1% of users accessed voice and Internet services
In terms of mobile service usage, 20.9% of mobile users accessed voice services only, while 73.1% accessed voice and Internet services. Around 6% of users accessed the Internet only, using PC/tablet/pen/router access.
57.1% of mobile accesses using 4G technology
At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2024, 57.1% of mobile accesses used 4G technology, 21.5% used the 2G+3G network and 21.4% used the 5G network (+11.5 p.p. compared to 2Q2023).
In terms of type of use, 2G+3G accesses were mainly used for voice services (77.9%), while 4G and 5G accesses were mainly used for voice and Internet access services (83.0% and 98.9%, respectively).
Residential users accounted for 80.2% of total active accesses
At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2024, mobile accesses by residential users accounted for 80.2% of total active accesses, while accesses by business users accounted for 19.8%.
3.5 million ported mobile numbers
At the end of 2Q2014 there were approximately 3.5 million ported mobile numbers. During this quarter, 138.4 thousand mobile numbers were ported, an increase by 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
Average traffic per access decreased by 1.4%
Mobile voice traffic in minutes decreased by 1.2% compared to 2Q2023. The number of minutes of traffic per mobile voice access averaged 211 per month, or about 7 minutes per day. Compared to last year, the average monthly traffic decreased by 3 minutes (-1.4%).
The average call duration was 2 minutes 52 seconds per call, the same as in 2Q2023.
MBB penetration reached 102 per 100 inhabitants
The number of actual users of the mobile Internet access service was 10.8 million, 6.2% more than in the same period last year. This figure corresponds to a penetration rate of around 101.6 per 100 inhabitants (+4.8 p.p. compared to 2Q2023).
Internet users on mobile phones up 6.6%
The increase in the number of users is the result of growth in both mobile Internet users (+6.6%) and PC/tablet/pen/router Internet access users (+1.9%).
Mobile Internet access by residential users accounted for 76.3% of the total, while business users accounted for 23.7%.
Mobile Internet traffic increased by 30%
Mobile broadband (MBB) Internet access traffic increased by 30.0% compared to 2Q2023. This growth is explained by an increase in the number of users and, above all, by an increase in the intensity of use.
Average monthly traffic reached 12 GB/month
Average monthly traffic per active mobile Internet user increased by 21.5% year-on-year. Each MBB user consumed an average of 11.6 GB per month. Average monthly traffic generated by PC/tablet/pen/router reached 30.4 GB (+5.0%).
M2M accesses fell by 17.1%
At the end of 2Q2024 there were around 1.2 million active mobile M2M accesses (9x numbering), a decrease by 17.1% compared to the same period last year. These accesses represented 6.5% of total active accesses.
Significant increase in roaming out Internet traffic
In 2Q2024, both roaming in and roaming out voice traffic decreased compared to last year (-5.7% and -5.6% respectively).
Roaming out Internet traffic grew strongly year-on-year (+31.5%).
Internet access when roaming in was two times higher than when roaming out
In 2Q2024, the degree of coverage of traffic in roaming in minutes by roaming out was 103%. For Internet access, roaming in traffic was 2.4 times higher than roaming out traffic.
Provider shares
MEO continues to be the main provider, with 37.6% of active mobile accesses with actual usage (excluding M2M), followed by NOS (30.1%) and Vodafone (28.2%). Lycamobile and NOWO follow with shares of 2.1% and 1.9% respectively. Compared to the same period last year, NOS and Lycamobile increased their mobile access shares by 1.0 p.p. and 0.5 p.p. respectively, while MEO, Vodafone and Nowo decreased their shares by 1.3 p.p., 0.2 p.p. and 0.03 p.p. respectively.
In terms of mobile Internet access subscribers, MEO’s share was 35.6%, followed by NOS (32.3%), Vodafone (27.7%), Lycamobile (2.3%) and Nowo (2.1%). Compared to 2Q2023, Lycamobile’s share increased by 1.2 p.p., while the shares of MEO, Vodafone, NOWO and NOS decreased by 0.6 p.p., 0.4 p.p., 0.2 p.p. and 0.1 p.p. respectively.
NOS had the largest share of mobile broadband Internet traffic (36.6%), followed by Vodafone (34.2%), MEO, NOWO and Lycamobile (28.2%, 0.6% and 0.4% respectively). Compared to the previous year, the share of NOS increased by 1.2 p.p., while the shares of Vodafone and MEO decreased by 1.1 p.p. and 0.2 p.p. respectively.
2.9 million users of 5G mobile Internet
Following the 5G auction, ANACOM issued at the end of 2021 titles supporting rights of use for frequencies (RUF) to six operators: Dense Air, Dixarobil (Digi Portugal), MEO, NOS, NOWO and Vodafone.
At the end of 2Q2024, 21.4% of mobile service users and 27.1% of mobile Internet users were using the 5G mobile network. The number of mobile Internet users using 5G totalled 2.9 million, of which 99% accessed the Internet via a mobile phone.
5G mobile Internet penetration rate reached 27.5 per 100 inhabitants.
5G traffic made up 17% of total mobile data traffic
In 2Q2024, traffic routed on 5G networks represented around 17% of total mobile data traffic, reaching 7.8 GB monthly per 5G mobile Internet user.
1 Active mobile accesses, such as subscription plans, minute plans, monthly payment plans convertible into traffic, etc., that entitle the holder to use one of the contracted services and that actually used one of the contracted services during the reporting period.
2 Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications use mobile networks and the Internet to operate, monitor and interconnect machines and devices (i.e., tele-alarm, tele-security, telemetry, etc.). They are associated with the so-called Internet of Things.
3 This is a portion of the 175.9 per 100 inhabitants referred to in the previous paragraph.
