The tenth edition of the biennial study of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been released - Communications Outlook 2009 - which reports on the transformations seen in the communications sector, investment in next generation communications networks, as well as the strong growth seen in subscriptions and revenues in the face of declining prices for end-users. The issues highlighted in this edition also include those related to the expansion of the Internet, as well as the evolution of the television market in terms of high-speed data networks.
In the chapter that examines the prices of communications, with a reference date in mid-2008, the study shows that Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden are the OECD countries where talking on your phone is cheapest, in contrast to Canada, Spain and the United States.
The calculated values result from the use, by the OECD, of purchasing power parity whereas, in the EU (European Union) and in the context of comparisons of prices for telecommunications, it would be more appropriate to use the prices actually paid by users. It is also noted that, for some services, the comparisons do not take all the offers available in each country into account.
This is particularly true with the prices of mobile services, where, comparing medium and high consumption profiles, only post-paid rates were used, and not pre-paid rates, which in Portugal's case represent a large proportion of usage (about 74 percent). As such, Portugal is consequently penalised in this comparison.
In the case of mobile broadband, a limited set of countries is considered and the extent of representation of the types of offers considered is not indicated.
For additional information on the situation in Portugal in this respect, see the publications available on this site, including the quarterly statistical reports.
Further information:
- Mobile phone calls lowest in Finland, Netherlands and Sweden http://www.oecd.org/document/20/0,3343,en_2649_201185_43471316_1_1_1_1,00.html
