Editing Telecommunications in Portugal (section)

==Broadband overview==
Portugal has a mid-sized but advanced telecoms market, with a steadily growing broadband subscriber base well served by cable, [[DSL]] and the emerging FTTx platforms. Mobile penetration is far above the European Union average, while the development of digital TV services has progressed under cautious regulatory guidance. The progressive liberalisation of the Portuguese market began at the beginning of the 1990s through the creation of the Portuguese Institute for Communications (ICP). Through a combination of specific deadlines for liberalisation and entry mechanisms for new market players, Portugal's telecoms scene was successfully opened up to competition.
The country's broadband market showed accelerated growth in 2010 not least due to its widespread cable and DSL networks, but also due to aggressive fibre deployment. Broadband services with up to 100&nbsp;Mbit/s, 200&nbsp;Mbit/s and even 1&nbsp;Gbit/s speeds were launched in 2009. The country's leading telecom operators have partnered up to build high speed next generation networks.
The government's broadband initiative for 2009-2010 had the following two aims: (i) the connection of up to 1.5 million homes and businesses to the new fibre networks enabling them to benefit from improvements in high-speed Internet, TV and voice services; (ii) the achievement of 50 per cent broadband penetration among households by 2010. Both aims were reached.
At the end of 2023, the number of households connected to the fibre-optic networks (FTTH/B) by all operators stood at 3.24 million.<ref name="Internet"/> The number of households with access by cable totalled 1.3 million. Nearly the totality of family households now have access to at least one high-speed network.<ref name="Internet"/>

'''Telephones - main lines in use:'''
5.5{{Spaces}}million (2024)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Número de clientes de telefone fixo em Portugal aumentou 1,2% no primeiro trimestre|url=https://expresso.pt/economia/empresas/2024-06-12-numero-de-clientes-de-telefone-fixo-em-portugal-aumentou-12-no-primeiro-trimestre-a4a72a68|access-date=2024-06-12|date=2024-08-22|website=expresso.pt}}</ref>

'''Telephones - mobile cellular:'''
13.6{{Spaces}}million (2023)<ref>{{Cite web|title=O número de acessos móveis totalizou 18,8 milhões em 2023|url=https://www.anacom-consumidor.pt/-/o-numero-de-acessos-moveis-totalizou-18-8-milhoes-em-2023|access-date=2024-03-01|date=2024-08-22|website=anacom-consumidor.pt}}</ref>
Cell Networks(2G/3G/3.5G/4G):
[[MEO (Portugal)|MEO]] - (2G to 4G licence) ; [[UZO]] (Virtual Carrier, owned by MEO) ; Moche (Virtual Carrier, runs under MEO prefix) ;
[[Vodafone]] (2G to 4G licence) ; Yorn (Virtual Carrier, runs under Vodafone prefix) ;
[[NOS (Portuguese media company)|NOS]] (2G to 4G licence) ; WTF (Virtual Carrier, runs under NOS prefix) ; Phone-ix (Virtual carrier owned by [[CTT Correios de Portugal, S.A.|CTT]] and operated by the MEO network) and [[Continente|Continente Mobile]] (operated by Optimus and hypermarket chain, Continente).

'''Telephone system:'''
<br />''general assessment:''
Portugal's telephone system has achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
<br />''domestic:''
integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations
<br />''international:''
6 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores; note - an earth station for Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region) is planned