Portugal - Cable TV records 17 thousand new customers in third quarter

During the third quarter of 2007 there were around 17 thousand new subscribers to the cable television distribution service, corresponding to an increase of 1% to around 1.5 million subscribers. In comparison to the third quarter of 2006, an increase of around 5% was recorded, corresponding to around 70 thousand new subscribers.

The highest growth in cable television subscriber numbers over the quarter was seen in the Algarve and in the North (2.6 and 2.3%, respectively). Meanwhile, the Alentejo and the North saw the biggest increases in comparison with the same quarter of the previous year (both around 11%).

As at the end of September, cable television distribution service subscribers represented around 26.6% of all Portuguese households, 1% more than in the same quarter of 2006.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira and the Alentejo remain respectively the regions with the highest and lowest Cable television distribution service penetration.

Meanwhile, the distribution of cable television subscribers by region remained little changed, with half of all cable television subscribers concentrated in the Lisbon area.

The number of cabled households for all operators stood at around 4 million at the end of September. Meanwhile no major changes were seen in the distribution of cabled households by region, with the Lisbon area continuing to have the biggest concentration of cabled households (around 44%).

At the end of September, the television distribution service using Direct To Home (DTH) technology had 458 thousand subscribers, 2.9% more than in the previous quarter and 13.7% more than in the same quarter of 2006. In absolute terms, this translates to 13 thousand more subscribers during the quarter.

Compared to the previous quarter, the Centre had the highest growth: 3%.

The North and Centre Regions continue to have the highest number of subscribers, both with over 30% of the total.

At the end of September, subscribers to distribution of subscription television signals services supported by cable or satellite (DTH) represented around 34.9% of households.

The total number of subscribers to distribution of subscription television signals service supported by cable distribution networks or satellite (DTH) was 1.926 million, representing around 18 Subscribers per 100 inhabitants.

In September, 76.2% of the total subscribers to these services were customers of the cable distribution service.