João Cadete de Matos was testifying to parliament's committee of economy, innovation and public works, in response to a query by the Communist Party about the restoration of telephone connections destroyed by the fires of last October, and to present the plan of activities and timetable for its implementation, according to the framework law for regulatory entities.

On 1 June this year there were 970 connections to be re-established, de Matos said, adding that Anacom had been "monitoring [the situation] in the last five months, week by week".

In March, he said, there were four thousand five hundred people still waiting to be reconnected, while in April "there were about half that" at 2,600. Since then, the number has fallen steeply, he noted.

Of the total, 942 are clients of Meo (Altice) and 28 of NOS, Vodafone and ONI - all companies that provide services via the Meo network.

According to de Matos, of the connections yet to be re-established, according to data supplied to the regulator by Meo, in 465 cases this was because of "refusal on the part of the client" to have the installation done, in 260 cases it was not possible to contact the client, in 45 the proposal was pending and in 172 they are awaiting connection.