José Sócrates defends that the spin off PT Multimédia should be used to benefit the sector. The Prime Minister, who was speaking at the opening of the 17th APDC Communications Congress, considered that competition in the Portuguese telecommunications market took place this year with the separation of the copper and cable networks held by Portugal Telecom and argues that this measure should be taken advantage of to give a new impetus to the sector.
During the presentation, José Sócrates also stressed that the telecommunications sector is one of the sectors of the economy that has known how to take advantage of opportunities to develop and underlined the fact that the country stood out in the context of the European Union with regard to the scope of the infrastructures of communications, giving as an example the availability of broadband in all schools in the country.
Another highlight was the progression of the New Opportunities program, which the Prime Minister considered essential to provide access to the computer and the Internet among families who would otherwise not have this opportunity. He added that 40 thousand computers have already been distributed under this training program, which currently has 100 thousand people enrolled.
In terms of the main challenges for 2008, José Sócrates highlighted the launch of the Digital Terrestrial Television platform, whose tender should be launched only in 2008. He also referred to the need to maintain the levels of quality in electronic communications services and the conditions of access to the Internet. universal service for electronic communications.
The Prime Minister also underlined the fact that the national trade balance is expected to end this year with a surplus of 10 percent in terms of technology exports, a positive index that was already achieved in 2007.
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