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Portugal vs. Spain

Telecommunications

PortugalSpain
Telephones - main lines in usetotal subscriptions: 5,087,977

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 49.33 (2019 est.)
total subscriptions: 19,639,778

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 41.54 (2019 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellulartotal subscriptions: 11,909,751

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 115.46 (2019 est.)
total subscriptions: 55,354,944

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 117.09 (2019 est.)
Internet country code.pt.es
Internet userstotal: 7,731,411

percent of population: 74.66% (July 2018 est.)
total: 42,478,990

percent of population: 86.11% (July 2018 est.)
Telecommunication systemsgeneral assessment:

Portugal has a medium-sized telecom market with a strong mobile sector and a growing broadband customer base; mobile market dominated by one operator with room for competition; 3G infrastructure is universal, with investment directed towards provision of 90% LTE coverage in rural areas and 5G technologies; cable sector shifting to fiber, with access to 66% of population; developments in m-commerce; operator assessing installation of submarine cable between islands and mainland; importer of broadcasting equipment from EU (2021)

(2020)

domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations; fixed-line 50 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular 116 per 100 persons (2019)

international: country code - 351; landing points for the Ella Link, BUGIO, EIG, SAT-3/WASC, SeaMeWe-3, Equino, MainOne, Tat TGN-Western Europe, WACS, ACE, Atlantis2 and Columbus-III submarine cables provide connectivity to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, South America and the US; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

general assessment:

well-developed and one of the largest telecom markets in Europe, with average mobile penetration for Europe; regulator has championed competition; LTE is nearly universal with shifts of service to 5G; operator joined government smart cities project; fixed-line broadband is backed by investment in fiber infrastructure; fiber broadband accounts for most of all fixed-line broadband connections; Chinese company Huawei contributes investment to the telecom sector; increased connectivity through submarine cable connection to Brazil; importer of broadcasting equipment from Europe (2021)

(2020)

domestic: fixed-line 42 per 100 and mobile-cellular 118 telephones per 100 persons (2019)

international: country code - 34; landing points for the MAREA, Tata TGN-Western Europe, Pencan-9, SAT-3/WASC, Canalink, Atlantis-2, Columbus -111, Estepona-Tetouan, FEA, Balalink, ORVAL and PENBAL-5 submarine cables providing connectivity to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, Asia, Southeast Asia and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation was postponed or slowed in some countries; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments

Broadband - fixed subscriptionstotal: 3,967,699

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 38.47 (2019 est.)
total: 15,616,585

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 33.03 (2019 est.)
Broadcast mediaRadio e Televisao de Portugal (RTP), the publicly owned TV broadcaster, operates 4 domestic channels and external service channels to Africa; overall, roughly 40 domestic TV stations; viewers have widespread access to international broadcasters with more than half of all households connected to multi-channel cable or satellite TV systems; publicly owned radio operates 3 national networks and provides regional and external services; several privately owned national radio stations and some 300 regional and local commercial radio stations

a mixture of both publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations; overall, hundreds of TV channels are available including national, regional, local, public, and international channels; satellite and cable TV systems available; multiple national radio networks, a large number of regional radio networks, and a larger number of local radio stations; overall, hundreds of radio stations 

(2019)

Source: CIA Factbook