1.13 million broadband subscribers in Portugal
At the end of the third quarter of 2005, there were a total of 1.132 million broadband clients in Portugal, with penetration reaching 10.8 percent, a value which reflects a growth of 0.8 percentage points compared to the second quarter, according to figures released by Portugese telecoms regulator Anacom. Compared to Q3 of 2004, the increase in clients amounted to 51.4 percent. In the period January-September 2005, ADSL access registered a quarterly increase of 11.8 percent, while cable modem access grew by 3.5 percent. Compared to the same quarter in 2004, ADSL access clients increased by 84.7 percent, to 640,800 subscribers, while cable modem connections grew by 22.7 percent, for a total of 488,400. In the third quarter, ADSL added 68,000 new clients and cable 16,000. Due to a 10 percent fall in interconnection prices, local calls dropped by 6 percent, while regional calls, national and fixed-mobile calls fell by 20-30 percent. Voice and broadband offers have become 50 percent cheaper for end consumers. On the other hand, 2 Mbps internet access is already responsible for 50 percent of ADSL accesses.
From TelecomPaper.