Portugal Telecom announced today the investment in its fibre optic network, also known as Next Generation Network ("NGN"). This network will allow PT to provide high-speed and high quality services, and meet consumers’ needs and requirements, thus positioning PT to achieve its goals of leadership in all areas of activity in the domestic market and profitable future growth.
After the launch of innovative services based on new technologies, such as IPTV with the Meo brand, which brought a new pay-TV experience to consumers and allowed PT to build a significant presence in this market and to achieve the inflection of wireline revenues, PT is now engaged in the fibre investment. This investment is an important milestone, which will fundamentally transform the television, Internet and entertainment experience of the present and future generations of customers.
Furthermore, the new network will support additional innovative services, which will also play an important role in the development of other industries, particularly content and application development and management of important resources. PT anticipates that these new services will benefit residential consumers, SMEs and large enterprises, by providing higher breadth and depth of communications and services of higher quality and reliability and will be an important investment attraction factor in sectors that require high-speed solutions.
Notwithstanding PT’s commitment with the national objective to equip Portugal with a new infrastructure that will enable the provision of advanced high-speed services, the conditions and extent of present and future implementation and development of its fibre optic network will be dependent on the balanced regulatory framework for fibre optic networks in Portugal.
The regulator (ICP-ANACOM) published, in February 2009, a "Report on the Regulatory Approach to Next Generation Networks", which sets guidelines on how it foresees NGN regulation. PT will launch its service offering on a fibre optic network based on these guidelines.
PT aims to cover one million households with fibre by the end of 2009. PT’s guidance for domestic capex for 2009 was circa Euro 650 million. As a result of this announcement, domestic capex guidance is increased by circa 10% for 2009.