Communication (Portuguese market)

2024: Portugal's telecom operators have been banned from purchasing Huawei equipment. They will lose 1 billion euros

Portugal's telecom operators have been banned from purchasing Huawei equipment. They will lose more than 1 billion euros. This estimate was announced in September 2024 by EY analysts.

Those losses include €339m of equipment replacement investments and €193m of future investments, which could lead to "an estimated 7% increase in average tariffs," EY said in a report.

The study also takes into account 156 million euros for depreciation, 58 million euros for opportunity costs and 24 million euros for energy consumption.

2021: In Portugal, 5G frequencies sold for €566 million

On October 27, 2021, Portugal's national regulator ANACOM announced that the main stage of trading in the long-awaited 5G auction in the country ended 200 days after it began, collecting about €566 million. Portuguese bidding seems to go down in history as one of the longest auctions, starting on January 14, 2021 and containing 1.7 thousand rounds.

The regulator Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (Anacom) said that as a result of the auction, it raised a total of €566.8 million, while competitors Vodafone Portugal, MEO and NOS, also received spectrum. In addition, two new 5G market participants appeared at the auction, Dixarobil Telecom, which was created by the Romanian company Digi through its Spanish business, as well as Nowo, a Portuguese cable company owned by MÁSMÓVIL. Dense Air Portugal became the sixth successful bidder, but the company already has a license in the 3.5 GHz band.

In Portugal, 5G frequencies sold for €566 million

The Portuguese company OpCo has acquired two lots of 2×5 MHz blocks in the 700 MHz band for a total of €38.4 million, as well as nine 10 MHz blocks in the 3.6 GHz band for a total of €94.75 million. The company has not received a single license in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz or 2.6 GHz bands. NOS spent the most, laying out more than €165 million for two lots in the 700 MHz band, two in the 900 MHz band, one in the 2.1 GHz band and ten in the 3.6 GHz band. MEO, which paid almost €125.23 million for frequencies in the 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands. This is followed by Nowo, which invested almost €70.22 million and received two of three lots in the 1800 MHz band sold at an exclusive stage for new participants, as well as frequencies of 2.1 GHz and 3.6 GHz. Dixarobil spent about €67.34 million on the acquisition of 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 3.6 GHz spectrum. In second place was Dence Air, which spent only €5.76 million on 3.6 GHz frequencies.

Vodafone Group CEO Nick Reid criticised a spectrum auction in Portugal in May 2021 for seeking to attract new players. Speaking during a phone call about the group's earnings, Reid said he was unhappy with the construction of the sale. Vodafone Portugal CEO Mario Vaz has reached out LinkedIn to express his relief that the auction is finally over after ten long months and once again criticised the development and management of the process that has left Portugal lagging behind the rest Europe in terms of 5G development. He assured Vodafone Portugal will look to launch 5G services.^[1]

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