ANACOM advances that, due to the measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, electronic communications traffic is increasing. Based on the most recent data from the three main telecommunications operators, the regulatory authority registered a 47% increase in voice traffic and a 52% increase in data traffic, in addition to changes in the way the Portuguese use the services in question.
Fixed voice traffic registered a significant increase, in contrast to the falling situation it had been in since 2013. ANACOM reports that the weight of traffic has also increased in relation to that of mobile voice. Fixed broadband traffic has also grown, and is expected to continue to increase in view of the decrease in mobile data.
According to the information provided by the operators, the regulatory authority indicates that the usage profile of the Portuguese does not register significant differences. There is only a reduction in traffic at meal times and an increase in the period between 07:00 and 23:00, with a peak at 22:00.
In line with the first figures presented by the three main telecommunications operators in Portugal, ANACOM clarifies that, to date, it has not registered network congestion situations.
The regulator states that the situation is in line with what has been observed in the remaining countries of the European Union, as highlighted in the recent joint communiqué of the European Commission and BEREC, the European Regulators Body for Electronic Communications,
Recently, MEO, Vodafone and NOS, released the first figures about the impact of Covid-19 on communications, which demonstrate a change in habits, and a significant increase in the use of data.
Altice and Vodafone indicate that in the fixed network where the greatest impact in terms of usage is felt, although the information is not fully comparable between the two companies. Altice advances a comparison between the week of March 16 to 22 and the previous week, while Vodafone compares with "a normal week" in February and NOS refers to "previous weeks".
There are some different habits among the customers of the three operators, with MEO feeling more weight in VoIP and video on demand, which increased by 75%. NOS has the highest growth in the fixed voice service, reaching a 144% increase. Vodafone, on the other hand, shows a higher intensity of data consumption on the fixed network, with a growth of 67%.
