Cable television service subscribers increase 18% - first quarter 2002

ANACOM (Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações) data for the first quarter of the year shows that the number of subscribers to cable television services provided by Portuguese operators had risen to 1.2 million by the end of March.

This figure indicates increases of 18% in comparison with the first quarter of 2001 and 3% when compared with the last quarter of 2001.

In absolute terms this corresponds to the addition of around 181,000 new subscribers between the first quarters of 2001 and 2002 and 39,000 new subscribers between December 2001 and March 2002.

The Lisbon and Tagus Valley region registered the largest number of subscribers, representing: 55% of the national total.

The Alentejo and Algarve region showed the highest growth rate: 40% between the first quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. Even so, this figure does not represent more than 5% of the national total at the end of March.

At the end of the period under study some 3.1 million households were cabled, which is equal to 62% of all homes in Portugal. By "cabled" it is understood that the household is in conditions to access a cable television service. 37% of these cabled households in fact receive the cable television service.

Taking the total number of households in our country as a base we can say that the percentage of those which effectively receive the service has risen to 23%.

In March 2002 the total number of DTH - Direct To Home (satellite) subscribers, alternative to the cable infrastructure for television signal distribution, reached 239,000, equivalent to a growth of 54% in comparison with the figures obtained in March 2001.

About one-third (32%) of the subscribers who Access the service by satellite technology reside in the North region, followed by the Lisbon and Tagus Valley with 24% and the Centre with 21%.

Consult:

• Postal services https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=277884