Portugal ended 2021with 4.4 million subscribers to multiplay services.
According to the regulator ANACOM, this was 146,000 (+3.4%) more than a year earlier but was the lowest observed growth since records began in 2011. It adds that 4/5P continues to drive growth, with the number of subscribers increasing by 128,000 in 2021. 3P offers also gained 20,000 subscribers last year.
4/5P offers were the most used and had 2.3 million subscribers (51.5% of the total number of subscribers to bundled offers), followed by the 3P offers, with 1.7 million subscribers (38. 9%). The percentage growth of 4/5P offers (6%) was higher than that recorded in the previous year (5.5%) and lower than the average recorded in the last four years (7.8%). Isolated or single play offers, which are not sold as a bundle, accounted for 72.1% of mobile accesses and 15.4% of fixed accesses.
ANACOM estimates that at the end of last year 89.1 out of every 100 families subscribed to packages, or 0.9pp more than in 2020.
According to information reported by the four main electronic communications providers, at the end of the Q2 2021, around 12.5% of total multiplay subscribers belonged to the non-residential segment. 2P offers were more popular among non-residential subscribers (25.7%) compared to residential subscribers (7.3%).
In 2021, revenues from bundled services reached around €1,791 million, or 3.4% more than the previous year (the lowest annual growth since 2018). Revenues from 4/5P offers accounted for 63.4% of the total. ARPU was €34.54 (excluding VAT), down 0.5% on the previous year.
ARPU was €43.02 in the case of 4/5P offers (-1.8%) and €27.69 for 3P offers (+1%). Meo was the provider with the highest share of multiplay subscribers (40.8%), followed by Grupo Nos (35.9%), Vodafone (20%) and Nowo (3.2%).
Compared to the previous year, Vodafone and Meo increased their share of subscribers (+0.7 and 0.3 pp, respectively), while the shares of Grupo Nos (-0.6 pp) and Nowo (-0.3 pp) both fell.
Meo had the highest share of revenue from bundled services (41.1%), followed by Grupo Nos (40%), Vodafone (16.8%) and Nowo (2%). Compared to 2020, there was an increase in the revenue share of Vodafone (1 pp) and MEO (0.4 pp) and a reduction in Grupo Nos (-1.0 pp) and Nowo (-0.4 pp).
According to the European Commission, around 15% of Portuguese households with multiplay services changed provider during 2020 (+5 p.p. than the EU27 average). Half of the households that switched providers reported having had some problem in the process of switching providers (+7 pp than the EU27 average). The main problems were the temporary loss of service and the delay in putting all services into operation.
