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As of 2006, 55% of Portuguese energy production is made by coal and fuel power plants. The other 40% is produced by hydroelectric's and 5% by wind energy (an increasing focus over the last few years). Portugal is still highly dependent on oil production and it´s inconstant prices. Debate on nuclear energy use has recently been brought to the public but has brought little enthusiasm. Although, like other EU countries Portugal is involved in the Joint European Torus project. Recently, the construction of a new high-capacity oil refinery has also been announced. Transportation was seen as a priority in the 1990s, pushed by the growing use of automobiles and industrialization. The country has a 68,732 kilometers (42,708 mi) network of highways. Almost 2,000 kilometers (1,240 mi) is the total length of 44 freeways that connect most of the country. Seaports are important due to Portugal's large coastline, and its strategic position in Europe and in the Atlantic ocean. The main seaports are Lisbon in the center, Leixões (Porto) in the North, Setúbal and Sines in the south, Funchal and Ponta Delgada in the Atlantic. The most important airports are those of Lisbon, Faro and Porto, these last two had extensive development recently. There are also important airports in the islands, such as the intercontinental airport of Madeira (Funchal, Madeira Island), Porto Santo (Porto Santo Island), and Ponta Delgada (Azores). The two principal metropolitan areas have subway systems: Lisbon Metro and Porto Metro, both with more than 35 kilometers (22 mi) of commercial lines. Both systems are linked by sharing stations with High-speed Pendolino trains, known as Alfa Pendular, that link both cities. The South Tagus Metro system is in construction and will connect the urban areas south of Lisbon. Another metro system for Coimbra is intended. The Pendolino lines (Alfa pendular) of Comboios de Portugal (CP) links Braga, Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon and Faro, linking the country in a vertical way. Intercity and regional trains link these cities with many other cities throughout the country. Construction of a high-speed TGV line connecting Porto and Lisbon, and Lisbon with Madrid will begin in 2008. The line between Porto and Lisbon will have five stations (Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Ota New Airport and Lisbon), but the trains in rarely stop in the intermediary stations. The New Airport for Lisbon will be built at the same time in Ota. In the technology area, Portugal has one of the highest mobile phone possession rates in the world. There have been more mobile phone subscribers than main line subscribers for several years now. Nowadays, there are more than 11 million mobile subscribers. Third generation mobile phones, UMTS, have been largely commercialized by operators since early 2004. The main telecom company is Portugal Telecom (PT), a telecommunications multinational, it dominates some markets, among them the national one. In the mobile section, the market is split between three operators: TMN (PT group), Vodafone, and Optimus (SONAE group). As of March 2006, about 30% of the Portuguese homes had high-speed internet services, a service that can be used at every town of the nation as it is one of the few European country totally covered by high-speed internet services. In the first quarter of 2004, 78% of companies with more than 10 employees had Internet access. Competition of the major broadband Internet providers, sapoadsl and Netcabo (Portugal Telecom group) with Clix/Novis (SONAE group), has caused large increases in the bandwidth provided to home users in 2005 (from 512Kbit/s and 1Mbit/s to 2 and 4Mbit/s). As of june 2006, average consumer speed is 4Mbit/s, and can go up to 20Mbit/s in Novis' infrastructure. PT group is the leader of the market. Main television broadcasters are the state-run RTP1 and "a 2:" (meaning "the 2:" in port) and the privately owned SIC and TVI. Most Portuguese see television through cable (by June 2004: 73.6% of households), where the major broadcasters have thematic channels. The main cable company TV Cabo (PT group) is trying to shift all of its customer's services to digital after an unsuccessful experience with Interactive TV. |
Portugal Information: Inside
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