At the end of 4th quarter of 2007 there were 13.45 million subscribers to the mobile telephone services, up 4% over the previous quarter and up 10% compared to the end of 2006.
Given the lower rate of growth, the proportion represented by prepaid card subscribers contracted compared to post-paid cards, to stand at 76.7% of the total number of subscribers. Pre-paid card growth was 2% this quarter, representing an increase, in absolute terms, of 200 thousand subscribers. Meanwhile there was growth of 10.8% in the number of subscription/post-paid plans, corresponding to 300 thousand extra subscribers. At the end of December, the penetration rate of this service had risen to 126.9 per 100 inhabitants.
Interpretation of the figures given for MTS subscribers and penetration rate should take account of users who have more than one card for accessing the service - it is estimated that around 15.5% of users had 2 active cards, while 4.2% had 3 or more cards; there are SIM cards used exclusively for Internet access and data services. Furthermore, there are active cards used in machines, equipment and vehicles (mobile payment terminals, alarm equipment, security, telemetry and telematics, etc.); finally there are cards for corporate use.
In total it is estimated that 89.7% of the population have a mobile telephone.
In period being reported, the number of users with access to UMTS services surpassed 3 million. The number of active users totalled 869 thousand, up 47% on the previous quarter. Since January 2007 the number of active users of UMTS services has risen by 92.2%.
The potential users of UMTS services represent 23% of the total number of MTS subscribers, while active users constitute 6% of mobile subscribers.
The UMTS penetration rate in December stood at 29 per 100 inhabitants and according to available information, with reference to the third quarter of 2007, the penetration rate then recorded in Portugal (25.2 per 100 inhabitants) was above the E.U. average (13 per 100 inhabitants), with Portugal taking second place in this ranking.
In the last quarter of the year, the number of calls made by MTS subscribers amounted to around 1.8 billion calls, 1.1% less than in the previous quarter but 4.6% more than during the same period of the previous year. Over the same period, the number of calls received on the mobile network was over 1.82 billion calls, an increase of 0.1% in comparison to the previous quarter and of 4.6% in comparison to the same quarter of 2006.
Meanwhile a decline was seen in mobile-fixed calls of 6.7% compared to the previous quarter and of 4.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2006. There was an increase in the number of fixed-mobile calls of 2.5% compared to the previous quarter, but a fall of 1.9% year-on-year. The declines seen for these types of traffic follow on from falls in previous periods and stem from fixed-mobile substitution.
The number of conversation minutes originating on mobile networks during the quarter totalled 3.5 billion minutes, a fall of 1.7% over the previous quarter. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the number of minutes rose by 9.2%.
The number of minutes terminated in mobile networks totalled around 3.5 billion minutes, a 1.3% fall over the previous quarter. Meanwhile, a year-on-year increase of 8.7% was recorded. In year-on-year terms, the number of minutes routed over the mobile network rose at a slightly lower rate than the growth seen in subscriber numbers.
During the final quarter of 2007, subscribers made, on average, 45 calls each month, of which 30 were made within the caller's own network.
During the same period there was yet another increase in the number of written messages sent (5.2 billion messages). This figure gives a 2% increase regarding the previous quarter and a 53.9% increase over the same quarter of the previous year. This is a result of customers signing up to specific tariffs that have been emerging and which include a high number of free messages.
Meanwhile 10.8 million MMS messages were sent, 9.5% less than in the previous quarter.
From October to December, 990 thousand video-calls were made, corresponding to a rise of 6.2% over the previous quarter.
Consult:
- Postal services https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=277884
