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Portuguese Prime Minister promises fibre for everyone
26 Feb 2010 | 22.46 Europe/London
Jose Socrates, Prime Minister of Portugal, has announced that he want to bring next-generation fibre networks to the whole country as quickly as possible.
Speaking at the FTTH Conference in Lisbon this week, Socrates said he wanted Portugal to be an “equal opportunities” provider of high-speed broadband, and make fibre connections available to 100% of the country including the rural areas.
To achieve this goal, Portugal has been divided into five regions, and a public tender issued for each region to deliver broadband at a minimum speed of 40Mbps.
The roll out of fibre in urban areas is already well underway, with Portugal becoming a rising star in Europe. In the past year the number of homes connected to fibre has increased 186% to reach over 41,000, and the availability of fibre has increased an impressive five-fold to 1.2 million homes, according to research firm iDATE. This means that more than 1% of households in Portugal access broadband using a fibre connection - when a country reaches this threshold it can be counted in the global FTTH rankings.
On top of that, as we previously reported on samknows, Portugal is one of the few locations in Europe where you can get a 1 Gbps broadband service, although right now it’s only available in selected areas and costs €250 per month.
The secret? In 2008 the Portuguese government agreed a “protocol” for fibre deployment with three of the country’s four telecoms operators: Portugal Telecom (PT), Sonaecom and Oni Communications. At the same time, the national regulator Anacom resolved some of the uncertainties surrounding fibre regulation, including access to the ducts of the former incumbent operator, and rules for in-building wiring. This stable regulatory environment has given the operators the confidence to make long-term investments in fibre networks. The final element in the government’s plan was a line of credit to support the operators in their investments.
The Prime Minister’s statements were widely reported in the Portuguese media, and a video of hiis speech is available on YouTube (in Portuguese with English introduction).
Speaking at the FTTH Conference in Lisbon this week, Socrates said he wanted Portugal to be an “equal opportunities” provider of high-speed broadband, and make fibre connections available to 100% of the country including the rural areas.
To achieve this goal, Portugal has been divided into five regions, and a public tender issued for each region to deliver broadband at a minimum speed of 40Mbps.
The roll out of fibre in urban areas is already well underway, with Portugal becoming a rising star in Europe. In the past year the number of homes connected to fibre has increased 186% to reach over 41,000, and the availability of fibre has increased an impressive five-fold to 1.2 million homes, according to research firm iDATE. This means that more than 1% of households in Portugal access broadband using a fibre connection - when a country reaches this threshold it can be counted in the global FTTH rankings.
On top of that, as we previously reported on samknows, Portugal is one of the few locations in Europe where you can get a 1 Gbps broadband service, although right now it’s only available in selected areas and costs €250 per month.
The secret? In 2008 the Portuguese government agreed a “protocol” for fibre deployment with three of the country’s four telecoms operators: Portugal Telecom (PT), Sonaecom and Oni Communications. At the same time, the national regulator Anacom resolved some of the uncertainties surrounding fibre regulation, including access to the ducts of the former incumbent operator, and rules for in-building wiring. This stable regulatory environment has given the operators the confidence to make long-term investments in fibre networks. The final element in the government’s plan was a line of credit to support the operators in their investments.
The Prime Minister’s statements were widely reported in the Portuguese media, and a video of hiis speech is available on YouTube (in Portuguese with English introduction).