MEO, Vodafone and NOS ask for 24 months to keep Romanians off the Lisbon Metro: “they are obliged to share the network, but nothing says it has to be soon”. Metro says there is no room for Digi’s own infrastructure.
Dependent on the infrastructure of rival operators — Altice, Vodafone and NOS — Digi has to negotiate access, but, after only a month of existence in the Portuguese market, it is already facing resistance from the big three, not only in Portuguese homes, but also in the Metro de Lisbon.
The operators claim the need for technical adaptations in the capital’s Metro that could lead to up to two years a resolver.
Digi currently offers 2G and 4G coverage to 93% of the population, while 40% have access to the 5G network, mainly in urban areas. But the lack of service on the Metro is a limitation that many take into account. The condition mainly affects the oldest lines of the Lisbon Metro; already on the Red Line, more recent, the problem is solved due to an infrastructure already prepared for sharing, says the president of Anatel, cited by this Friday.
According to Sandra Maximiano, operators are obliged to allow access, but there are no defined deadlines for its implementation. “The operators are forced to share the network, but nothing says it has to be soon“, he emphasizes.
Anacom has already asked Lisbon Metro to assess the reasonableness of the deadline for 24 months required by operators to share the network with Digi. The person responsible considers this excessive period and suggests that there may be other motivations for the delay. “And what deadline is that? “They are asking for 24 months. It’s a long time!”, said Maximiano.
To mitigate these difficulties, Digi is already considering creating a own infrastructure in the Metro. However, “Metro says there is lack of spacebut mainly it is a safety issue.”
Badly in Portugal, on November 4, Digi’s competitive prices affected established operators, but the impact was more notable on the giants’ low-cost brands, such as UZO (Meo/Altice), Amigo (Vodafone) and WOO (Nos), their offers and lowered prices to the level of the new Digi.
