Telecommunications in Portugal

The number of Internet users is estimated to be 3.2 million (2006). The number of hosts (computers with permanent IP address) is about 836 000 (2007). According to European Competitive Telecommunications Association, at the beginning of 2006 about 12.3% of Portuguese people had broadband access to the Internet. At the same time the European leader was Denmark, with the percentage of 29%, whereas the figure was 4.4% in Czech Republic, 3,3% in Poland, 75% in the USA.

The leader of TV market in Portugal, both in the number of subscribers and in implementation of modern technological solutions, is TV Cabo. In 1999, TV Cabo supported by Motorola introduced broadband Internet in cable networks. It was also the first television platform in the world that started up interactive TV services (VoD, home banking, shopping - based on Microsoft TV Platform).

Portugal belongs to the small group of several European countries that have not launched digital terrestrial broadcasts yet. The start of DVB-T platform is planned for 2013, including terrestrial HD transmissions.

Availability of telecommunication services in Portugal (2006) in comparison with Belgium:

- Population (million)
Portugal: 10.6
Belgium: 10.4

- Number of fixed lines (million)
Portugal: 4.2
Belgium: 4.7

- Cellular phones (million)
Portugal: 12.3
Belgium: 9.7

- Internet users (million)
Portugal: 3.2
Belgium: 4.8

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