Fixed telephone lines

For now there is only one company providing fixed telephone lines to homes, Portugal Telecom SA.  Connecting a telephone can be quite quick, often only one or two days.  On the other hand if your house is in a remote country area far from the telephone network be prepared for a long wait.  To open a contract you will need to go to one of the telephone company's offices, provide identification, sign the appropriate form, and present a copy of form Mod. 15.  They will need your full name, the full address of the house, a contact phone number, and your tax registration number.

You can submit a request to transfer a telephone number to a new house by post, fax or at one of the telephone company's offices.  You will need to include the new address, the contact phone number, date for transfer of the number, and a copy of form Mod. 15 to change the address.  Cancellation of a telephone contract must be in writing either by post, fax or at one of the telephone company's offices. The request should indicate the disconnection date, contact telephone to remove the equipment, and the address for final invoicing.

January of 2000, saw twelve new telephone communication companies. These operators cannot to date offer a local service, but have very attractive rates for regional, national and international calls.  To access their services you must become their client (sign a free contract). The monthly fee or “taxa de adesão” is free. Listed below the companies and respective codes:

Special services

Portugal Telecom SA also provides a number of special services.  These include Voice Mail (replaces your answering machine), aviso de chamadas em espera (advises you of a second call), reencaminhamento de chamadas (automatically re-routes calls to another number, just call 0800 20 0800 for this service), conferência a três (conference calls), chamada com destino fixo (just pick up the phone and it connects to a pre-defined number), and barramento de chamadas (where you can use a code to activate or deactivate levels of service). 

There are also special rates for a second line, for RDIS (ISDN) lines, and for frequent calls to pre-defined numbers, Família e amigos (calls to family and friends, gives 15% discount for national calls and 5% discount on international calls) and Local + (where you specify three local numbers and save €.025 per call).

There is a freephone line (0800 206 206) for information about services for people with special needs, hard of hearing, visually impaired, disabled and elderly. 

Mobile phones

There are three main mobile phone providers.  TMN is associated to Portugal Telecom and has both an analogue network and a digital GSM network.  Telecel is the more recent competitor and provides a GSM network.  Both companies provide roaming (where you can use your GSM phone in other countries), Voice Mail and other services.  Both provide packages of services with a range of tariffs and forms of payment, and have frequent promotions. 

International calls

Marconi SA, also associated with Telecom, markets a telephone charge card, which allows you to phone from anywhere in Portugal and from most other countries, to any other number.  The charge is then billed to your home or business telephone account.  They also operate the Portugal Directo service which enables callers from overseas to connect to a Marconi operator in Portugal for reverse charge calls to your number.

There are a number of call back companies that advertise in the international press.  Normally a deposit payment is required, and you are provided with a number in USA or UK to call.  This connects to a computer.  When you hang up the computer calls you back, and after giving a code number you can dial to the number you require.  As the international charges in the USA are cheaper than in most other countries this can work out cheaper than a direct telephone call. Telephone bills are sent monthly by post.  You may pay them over the counter at one of the telephone company's offices or in Post Offices, by post, at ATMs (Multibanco), or by direct debit from a bank account.  If you are likely to be away for any time the latter is likely to be the most reliable.

Telephone charge rates are based on time and distance.  Calls between 9pm and 9am are much cheaper than those during the day.

Please be aware that promotions are frequently happening with different companies at different times.