"At the end of the first quarter of 2024, there were 9,999 base stations in Portugal with 5G technology, 12 percent more than those existing at the end of 2023, according to information reported by operators", says Anacom, in a statement.

"All municipalities in the country have 5G stations, as well as 2,176 parishes (70 percent of parishes in the country)".

The density of 5G base stations in Portugal, in the period under analysis, "is one base station for every 10 square kilometres".

There are, on average, "97 5G base stations per 100,000 inhabitants", says the regulator.

"These indicators prove the growth of 5G networks in Portugal, but they also reveal that there is no homogeneous distribution throughout the territory, verifying that it is along the western coastal strip, mainly between Viana do Castelo and Setúbal, and the southern coastal strip southern (Algarve), that the concentration of the number of stations is greater", points out Anacom.

The areas of the country where the density of stations is higher "also correspond to those where the population density is higher or where there is a seasonality in the number of inhabitants".

"Analysing the data by operator, NOS remains the one that installed the most 5G base stations (4,705), followed by Vodafone (3,816) and MEO, Altice Portugal (1,478)", he adds.

Regarding the variation in the number of stations installed per operator, "Vodafone grew 18 percent (+ 583 stations) to NOS 11 percent (+ 470 stations), and MEO 1 percent (+ 19 stations)".

The number of municipalities in which the three operators are present is very similar, with NOS being the operator with 5G base stations in the largest number of municipalities, 308, followed by Vodafone with a presence in 306 municipalities, and MEO in 305 municipalities, according to Anacom.

"Of the 308 municipalities in the country where there are 5G stations, 303 have base stations installed by three operators (MEO, NOS, and Vodafone)" and, in relation to the previous quarter, "there are seven more municipalities that now have the presence of three mobile operators with their own network".

Only five municipalities had base stations installed by two operators at the end of March, and there are no longer any municipalities where there was only one operator (or none at all).

"Considering the total number of stations (2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G) and counting as separate stations those that include different technologies, it is observed that Vodafone is the operator with the largest number of stations, with a total of 19,479 stations (38 .3 percent). NOS has a total of 19,474 stations (38.3 percent), and MEO has a total of 11,897 installed stations (23.4 percent)".