Many Portuguese people use smartphones to access the internet and complete downloads, but the speed at which they are able to do so varies depending on the area of ​​the country where they are.

According to a report by idealista/news, in 2021, data from Anacom showed that the Autonomous Region of the Azores was the one that registered the fastest downloads via the mobile network, while the Algarve is at the bottom of the table.

“In terms of mobile accesses, in terms of download, the Autonomous Region of the Azores presented the best median result (15 Mbps), followed by the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Alentejo and the Autonomous Region of Madeira, all between 10 and 11 Mbps each. The Algarve region recorded the lowest download value (8 Mbps). For upload, the highest values ​​were found in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (9 Mbps) and the lowest in the Algarve Region (5 Mbps)”, concludes Anacom.

The data in question are extrapolated from tests carried out by users themselves using NET.mede, the internet speed testing tool developed by Anacom.

Fixed access

Regarding fixed accesses, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area was the region of the country with the best download speeds in 2021 (93 Mbps), with Alentejo in last position (67 Mbps).

According to Anacom, last year on NET.mede, “approximately 1.2 million tests were carried out on the speed of Internet accesses (on average, 3,331 tests daily), of which 73% were carried out on national fixed accesses of residential and 19% in mobile accesses”, with the number of tests decreasing by 14% compared to 2020 (202 thousand less tests).