Portugal Travel Guide - Communications

Country code: 351. There are call boxes in most villages and all towns; there are also public telephones in many cafes and bars, from which international calls may be made.

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage exists across the whole country.

There are Internet cafes in all urban areas, and some post offices offer Internet facilities. Wi-Fi access is available in various hotels and public buildings.

Airmail to European destinations from continental Portugal and the Azores takes three days; from Madeira, up to five days.

Post office hours: usually Mon-Fri 0900-1800. Main post offices have longer hours and some are also open on Saturday and Sunday. The post office at Lisbon Airport is open 24 hours a day. 

Public TV and radio services are operated by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). Today, Portugal's commercial stations provide tough competition for the public broadcaster.

• Each region has its own Portuguese-language dailies.
• The Portugal News is an English-language newspaper published in print and online.
• Portugese dailies include Diario Noticias, Publico and Expresso.

• RTP operates two domestic channels and external services RTP Africa and RTP Internacional, as well as cable/satellite channels in the Azores and Madeira.
• It had a monopoly position until the commercial channel Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC) was launched in 1992.
• TVI is another commercial channel, while TV Cabo is the main pay-TV operator. A wide range of domestic and foreign channels are available through Multichannel TV via cable and satellite.

• Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) is Portugal's public broadcasting organisation. It operates public radio networks in the country.
• Radio Comercial and Radio Clube Portugues are two of the commercial channels.
• Radio Renascenca is very popular and owned by the Roman Catholic Church.
• Around 300 local and regional radio stations operate in Portugal.