Portuguese operators can limit OTT access
March 25, 2020
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
The Portuguese government has authorised telecommunications operators to choose the priority services to reach customers.
The aim is to ensure the security and responsiveness of fixed and mobile telecommunications networks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In practice, this means that operators can introduce limits on certain services, such as OTT and online gaming, in case of extreme need of telecommunications infrastructure.
This comes at a time when Portuguese operators are reporting huge increases in fixed internet traffic. In the week commencing March 16th, for example, the growth was 35 per cent at Meo (Altice Portugal), 67 per cent for Vodafone Portugal and 70 per cent at NOS, when compared to the previous week.
Meo said usage of OTT services increased by 45 per cent, while VoD grew by 75 per cent. Vodafone Portugal claims OTT consumption grew 25 per cent, while non-linear TV use (VoD, personal recording and rewind) was 11 per cent higher.
For its part, NOS said the number of non-linear TV sessions increased by 13 per cent.