Portugal is the country with the highest percentage of fiber-optic coverage in rural areas

According to the annual study carried out by consultancy IDATE for the FTTH Council Europe—the association representing the European fiber-optic network ecosystem—Portugal is the country with the highest percentage of fiber-optic coverage in rural areas.

The report, published at the end of April, shows that Portugal leads the European ranking with 53% of homes covered, followed by Spain (42%) and Sweden (38%).

According to the same source, Portugal has evolved very rapidly in the deployment of FTTH networks in rural areas, achieving a level of coverage that is three times higher than the European average.

The report also reveals that, although there is still a strong presence of coaxial cable networks in the national territory, FTTH is the main technology, which has made it possible to achieve a higher average bandwidth compared to other countries.

dstelecom Brings Fiber Optics to One Third of Mainland Portuguese Municipalities

dstelecom has been one of the main drivers behind these results, currently delivering fiber-optic connectivity to 400,000 homes across 95 municipalities in rural areas, through a neutral fiber-optic network open to all telecommunications operators.

The origin of this network dates back to a public tender won in 2010 for the construction, management, operation, and maintenance of Next Generation Networks (NGN) in rural areas of northern and southern Portugal. This network was later expanded to an additional twenty municipalities. Today, it incorporates the most advanced technologies to serve all national telecommunications operators under a wholesale, neutral, and transparent model.

Ricardo Salgado, CEO of dstelecom, highlights that:

“After consolidating our position in Portugal’s telecommunications sector in 2019, we will spare no effort to cover an additional 150,000 homes this year and a further 250,000 homes in 2021, effectively doubling our current coverage.”