Access to news content in Portugal represents up to 13 percent of total mobile web page visits, according to a recent survey, and the figure is set to double in less than two years. The site of TSF, a radio station, has the highest percentage of page views via mobile devices at 13 percent. Publico was in second place with 11 percent, followed by Correio de Manha and Diario de Noticias, each with 10 percent. As far as news apps are concerned, Publico’s app was downloaded by 421,000 users, followed by those of Expresso with 157,000, TSF with 126,000, Diario de Noticias with 124,000, Correio da Manha with 52,000 and Radio Renascenca with 13,000.

Tarifica’s Take

We think this finding is interesting as a reminder that contrary to appearances, not all data use is being driven by entertainment, games and social networking. Despite the clear popularity of these bandwidth-intensive services and the attendant industry hype, more traditional, “serious” content is also important to a large percentage of users in at least one developed European mobile marketplace. And while much news content is print-based, increasingly news site and apps offer in-depth videos and streaming audio as well, which do require large amounts of data and benefit from LTE connectivity. So in the ongoing search for relevance and added value to customers, mobile operators would do well to factor news into the equation and look to develop joint promotions and other partnerships with local and national news organizations, to the extent possible.