Internet in Portugal
Encyclopedia
ADSL service has been available in Portugal since 2000, however it wasn't until 2002 that the service started to see wide acceptance from the general public, mainly due to increased competition from service providers, which helped to level prices. Market penetration in Portugal is around 30% although Portugal has the distinction of being one of the few European countries to have coverage in virtually the entire territory.
There are several service providers offering ADSL service in Portugal to the residential and the professional market. The majority of the residential market is split between the 2 larger operators: Portugal Telecom and Sonaecom.
Portugal Telecom
A former monopoly, Portugal Telecom
is still the largest telecommunications company in the country today. Due to its previous monopoly status its landline infrastructure covers all territory, making it the only operator that can offer direct service anywhere in the country. Portugal Telecom uses different brands to segment their ADSL service, among others SAPO for the residential market and Telepac for the small business market. In November 2006 Portugal Telecom announced their ADSL2+ service, adding a 24 Mbit/s speed grade service to their market offer and effectively catching up to competitor Sonaecom that had been offering ADSL2+ speed grades for several months.
Sonae
Sonae
com started operations in 1999, soon after the government opened the telecommunications market to competition. The company started by renting Portugal Telecom's lines in order to offer their voice service to customers, but soon started laying their own infrastructure and can now offer direct service in the main metropolitan areas. Sonaecom also uses different brands to segment their ADSL offer, these include Optimus Clix for the residential market and Novis for the professional market. Taking advantage of the increased bandwidth provided by their ADSL2+ network, Sonaecom announced in June 2006 the launch of their IPTV
service, dubbed SmartTV
, enabling the company to offer so called Triple Play
service to customers in select areas.
Other ADSL operators in Portugal
Cable service providers
There are several service providers offering ADSL service in Portugal to the residential and the professional market. The majority of the residential market is split between the 2 larger operators: Portugal Telecom and Sonaecom.
Portugal Telecom
A former monopoly, Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
is still the largest telecommunications company in the country today. Due to its previous monopoly status its landline infrastructure covers all territory, making it the only operator that can offer direct service anywhere in the country. Portugal Telecom uses different brands to segment their ADSL service, among others SAPO for the residential market and Telepac for the small business market. In November 2006 Portugal Telecom announced their ADSL2+ service, adding a 24 Mbit/s speed grade service to their market offer and effectively catching up to competitor Sonaecom that had been offering ADSL2+ speed grades for several months.
Sonae
Sonae
Sonae
Sonae is a conglomerate, and is the largest private employer in Portugal. The company is primarily engaged in the operation of retail stores through its subsidiary Modelo Continente....
com started operations in 1999, soon after the government opened the telecommunications market to competition. The company started by renting Portugal Telecom's lines in order to offer their voice service to customers, but soon started laying their own infrastructure and can now offer direct service in the main metropolitan areas. Sonaecom also uses different brands to segment their ADSL offer, these include Optimus Clix for the residential market and Novis for the professional market. Taking advantage of the increased bandwidth provided by their ADSL2+ network, Sonaecom announced in June 2006 the launch of their IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
service, dubbed SmartTV
SmartTV
SmartTV A/S is a Danish company providing interactive TV, IPTV, On Demand and NPVR services....
, enabling the company to offer so called Triple Play
Triple play (telecommunications)
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
service to customers in select areas.
Other ADSL operators in Portugal
- ArTelecom
- ClaranetClaranetClaranet is an ISP and Managed services provider.Claranet provides network, hosting and managed application services in the UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands , Portugal, and Spain...
- Oni
- Redvo
- Tele2Tele2Tele2 AB is a major European telecommunications operator, with about 34 million customers in 11 countries. It serves as a fixed-line telephone operator, cable television provider, mobile phone operator and Internet service provider.- Overview :...
- VodafoneVodafoneVodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
Cable service providers
- Bragatel
- CabovisãoCabovisãoCabovisão is a Portuguese private telecommunications operator, founded on September 27, 1993, and in 1995 obtains the licences to start operating.It bought Pluricanal Aveiro S.A...
- Netcabo
- NetMadeira
- TVTEL Comunicações, S.A.TVTELTVTEL was a Portuguese digital satellite and cable pay television service provider. The satellite service started on June 26, 2007, and it was on the Eurobird 9 satellite, broadcasting FTA and Conax-encrypted channels for the entire Europe...
- ZON Multimédia