The president of Nos said on Friday that the telecommunications market does not have the capacity for so many operators, but that he does not advocate the consolidation of the main operators either.
“We don’t think it makes sense to increase the number of operators, but we’re not advocating a reduction either. The possible consolidation between the two largest operators would probably be detrimental to consumers, we do not defend it and would not do anything in this direction”, declared Miguel Almeida, during the presentation at a press conference of the 2021 results.
The executive also said that Nos was not invited to buy Altice. “And we weren’t invited,” he added.
Miguel Almeida was very critical of the regulator (Anacom), believing that this entity wants to fragment the market.
“The regulator’s path borders on illegal, the market doesn’t have the capacity for that many operators,” he said.
On cybersecurity, regarding the increase in computer attacks and the war in Ukraine (attacked by Russia), he said that what Nos has done is to increase “attention, more attention from teams, more ‘investments’ in ‘barriers that help keep hackers away.’ However, he declined to disclose the value of the company’s investment in IT security.
In October, financial news agency Bloomberg reported that Altice Europe was considering selling the operation in Portugal and that there were five potential interested parties, with the Portuguese subsidiary valued at seven billion euros.
Already in January, according to the press, Altice would have given up selling its activities in Portugal due to the low values of the proposals.