Portugal operators, Vodafone, Meo and Nos will extend the free use of 5G, once again postponing the start of the date to start charging customers for this technology. free 5G portugal

“We will extend it for free until March 31, 2023“, confirmed an official Vodafone source to Negócios. Shortly afterward, Meo’s official source also confirmed that it would maintain the free service until the same date, followed later by Nos.  The deadline to start charging for the use of 5G has been successively postponed by operators, and in November this was postponed until January 15, that is, this Sunday.  In this way, mobile customers of these operators who have a mobile phone compatible with the network will be able to use it at no extra cost until the appointed date.

According to the latest data from the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (Anacom), it is estimated that, in September 2022, around 11.7% of mobile service users and 16.4% of mobile Internet users had 5G equipment and subscribed to an offer that allows access to these services, which represents a penetration of 15 out of 100 inhabitants.

On the other hand, it is estimated that, on the same date, traffic routed over 5G networks represented around 7.6% of total mobile data traffic. Average traffic on 5G networks reached 3.3 GB per 5G mobile Internet user.

Since the 5G licenses were awarded at the end of 2021, operators have been making efforts to make the network available. According to Anacom data, at the end of the third quarter of 2022, there were  4,317 5G base stations installed, spread over 271 municipalities, which is equivalent to 88% of the municipalities in the country, and 1,191 parishes (39 %).

In view of the data reported at the end of the 2nd quarter of 2022, the following evolution was observed:free 5G portugal

• The number of 5G base stations installed had an increase of 48%,
• The number of municipalities where there are 5G stations grew by 37%,
• The number of parishes where there are 5G stations grew by 37%, of which:

– low-density parishes with 5G stations (86% more)

– parishes in the Autonomous Regions with 5G stations (264% more).

NOS remains the operator that, until the end of the 3rd quarter of 2022, installed the most base stations, followed by Vodafone and MEO; however, with regard to the variation in the number of stations installed compared to the previous quarter, this was small in the case of NOS (only 2%) and, in the case of Vodafone and MEO, it stood at 200% and 65%, respectively.

At the end of the 3rd quarter, according to information reported to ANACOM, the number of base stations installed in the national territory with 5G technology amounted to 4317 stations, distributed over 271 municipalities (88% of the municipalities in the country) and 1191 parishes (39% of parishes in the country). free 5G portugal

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