Mobile Phone and Internet Contracts in Portugal: Americans, Britons

A mobile or internet contract in Portugal is a written contract with a company, often with a lock-in period (fidelização) of up to 24 months that makes leaving early costly. Before you sign, the operator must give you the full terms and a short contract summary (at most one A4 page, or three A4 pages for internet access), and the rules on cancelling, keeping your number and complaining come from the communications law and are explained by the regulator, ANACOM.

This guide belongs with the first-month paperwork and the first-year settling-in guide, where a phone and internet connection sit next to the lease and the tax number. It reports what ANACOM’s consumer portal says. It is not legal advice, and we name no operators and quote no prices, because the pages we read give none.

What did we read, and when is the information from?

We read the pages below on 19 October 2026. They are all on ANACOM’s consumer portal (Portal do Consumidor), and none of them shows its own update date.

• Lock-in periods, contracting services, cancelling services, distance and door-to-door contracts, number portability, roaming and the page on complaining to ANACOM.
• The portal cites the Electronic Communications Law (Lei n.º 16/2022 of 16 August 2022). We could not open its text on the Diário da República, so every rule below is as ANACOM states it.

The latest rule this article relies on is Portaria n.º 284/2022 of 28 November 2022, which the cancellation page cites for the contract-cancellation platform. That is older than this article, so the date of its information is the article’s own date.

Prepaid or contract: which one do I need?

The pages we read do not compare prepaid and contract offers, and they say nothing about registering a prepaid SIM card. What they do say:

• A contract summary and the full terms, on a durable medium such as paper or a USB stick, are due before you sign. The contract takes effect only after you have received the summary and agreed.
• Prepaid appears in three places. When you change internet provider, a prepaid customer can ask the previous operator to refund any remaining balance, and the operator may deduct charges based on the costs it actually incurred, if the contract provides for it. The list of pre-contract information includes the same right to a refund of the remaining balance. And to port a number, ANACOM asks for an identification document whether the service is postpaid or prepaid.
• The pre-contract information must cover the lock-in period, the benefits that justify it and the charges for leaving early. A prepaid plan with no commitment has no such period; check what your offer says.

ANACOM also publishes a tariff comparison tool, COM.escolha, that compares mobile, fixed phone, internet and TV offers. It says the best plan depends on your use: if you mostly call mobile numbers a mobile service is usually cheaper, and unlimited data usually costs more and makes sense for heavy users.

What documents will the operator ask for?

ANACOM’s contracting page lists the information the operator must give you, not what you must give it, so we cannot tell you from an official page which ID, tax number or proof of address a given operator asks for at sign-up. Three things we can say from the pages:

• To port a number, ANACOM says to show an identification document, giving as examples an ID card, citizen card or passport.
• To cancel, an operator may ask for identification documents if it does not already hold them, may keep a copy of your ID only with your consent, and may not make cancellation depend on other items. It may not ask again for documents it already holds.
• ANACOM says operators may not apply different general conditions of access or use depending on nationality, place of residence or place of establishment, except where objectively justified, for example by differences in costs and risks.

If an operator asks for a tax number or proof of address, our guides on getting a NIF and on proving your address cover those documents. A bank account for direct debit is covered in the bank account guide.

How long can an operator lock me in?

ANACOM says the maximum lock-in period is 24 months. Its details:

You can find out whether your contract has a lock-in in the contract itself, in the contract summary, or by asking the operator, which must tell you the time left and what leaving would cost. The monthly bill must show the date the lock-in ends and the amount you would pay to cancel on the bill date. If the contract renews automatically, the operator must tell you the end date of the lock-in before renewal, on a durable medium, and tell you how to cancel and its best prices.

Does the advertised price last the whole contract?

Not necessarily. ANACOM says promotions can be temporary, after which you pay the monthly fee of the plan without discounts, and the operator must warn you in good time of the end of promotional conditions. It also says an operator may change the contract during the lock-in, but if you do not agree you may cancel without charge. The exception: where the contract set out in advance how prices are updated, usually by reference to the consumer price index published by the Portuguese statistics institute, an update made as the contract provides does not give you the right to cancel free of charge.

What does it cost to cancel early?

ANACOM says that if you cancel before the lock-in ends you may have to pay charges, and that the amount must be set in the contract. For consumers, in contracts made from 14 November 2022, the charge may not exceed the lower of two amounts:

1. The value of the benefit you received in return for the lock-in, as identified in the contract, in proportion to the remaining lock-in period.
2. A percentage of the remaining monthly fees: for an initial lock-in, or a renewed lock-in with a change of installation, 50% if you cancel in the first year and 30% in the second year; for a renewed lock-in without a change of installation, 30%.

If the lock-in was the counterpart of subsidized equipment sold locked to a network, the amount due cannot exceed the cost of unlocking the equipment. For contracts made before 14 November 2022, the charge corresponds to the part of the benefit not yet recovered by the operator, and cannot automatically equal the sum of the remaining monthly fees. It also cannot exceed the costs the operator had for the installation. ANACOM adds that the 30% rule for a renewed lock-in without a change of installation also applies to contracts made before 14 November 2022 (“Esta regra aplica-se, também, a contratos celebrados antes de 14 de novembro de 2022”).

ANACOM lists situations in which no lock-in charge may be made. In every case you give written notice, an email is accepted, at least 30 days ahead, and the operator may still bill the services of those 30 days.

Moving abroad is the case that matters to many readers who leave Portugal. ANACOM describes it as emigration and asks for a residence certificate in a third country or a work contract, so keep that paperwork for the operator. The same page also lists a change of residence abroad (“Alteração de residência para o estrangeiro”) among the cases in which you can suspend a contract temporarily without the operator charging you.

How do I cancel a contract?

First contact your operator to learn about the notice period, the cancellation date, any lock-in charge and equipment to return. ANACOM says the operator must give you this information when you say you want to cancel. Your request must identify you, say expressly that you want to cancel and name the services. You can send it:

• in writing, to any contact in the contract or published by the operator;
• in person at a store;
• by phone, if the line can confirm your identity;
• in your customer area on the operator’s website, if offered;
• through the Plataforma de cessação de contratos, cessacaodecontratos.pt, where consumers log in with the Chave Móvel Digital or the citizen card (see our Chave Móvel Digital guide).

ANACOM recommends a written request and keeping proof that you sent it. It says the process cannot be harder, costlier or need more documents than signing up did. The operator must confirm receipt in writing within 5 working days of a correct request, stating the cancellation date and your obligations afterwards. If your request is incomplete, it must tell you what is missing within 3 working days, and the request lapses if you do not supply it within 30 working days.

Expect to pay until the end date. ANACOM says contracts usually require notice of, for example, 15 or 30 days, and for contracts that renewed automatically the maximum notice an operator may require is one month. Equipment the operator owns, such as a rented modem, must be returned, and the operator must tell you how and what you owe if you do not.

For a contract made at a distance, by phone or online, ANACOM says a consumer has 14 days from the date of the contract to cancel without cost or reason, and 30 days for one signed at home with a door-to-door agent. If the operator did not tell you about this right before the contract, the period becomes 12 months. If you ask for the service to be installed before the period ends, the operator must obtain an express request on a durable medium, and if you then cancel you owe an amount proportional to the service already provided. For other contracts, ANACOM says a trial period is not required by law.

Can I keep my phone number?

Yes, between companies and within the same type of service. ANACOM’s points:

• Only the holder of the contract tied to the number may request portability.
• You ask the company you are moving to. It handles the whole process, including the request to your current company, and the move cancels only the service tied to that number. If you have a bundle, cancel the rest of it with the company that provides it, or it keeps being billed.
• You show an identification document (an ID card, citizen card or passport), postpaid or prepaid, and give the portability validation code (CVP), 12 digits, which your current company provides.
• Mobile numbers starting with 91, 92, 93 and 96, and fixed numbers starting with 2, can be ported. Numbers inactive for more than 3 months cannot. A move between fixed and mobile service does not keep the number.
• Companies cannot charge you directly for porting. You may owe your old company lock-in charges or unpaid bills, but ANACOM says porting cannot be refused for those reasons.
• The number should be active on the agreed date, within one working day. You may be without service for up to 3 hours in the porting window. If the deadline is missed, the new company owes 3 euros per number per full day of delay, and 23 euros per number per day of interruption after one working day, up to 5,750 euros per request.
• For mobile numbers, check that your phone is not locked to the former company’s network and that you have the new SIM card inserted or the eSIM set up.

What about roaming with my US or UK SIM, or a Portuguese SIM abroad?

The ANACOM roaming page we read is written for customers of Portuguese operators who travel, not for foreign SIM cards used in Portugal, so it does not tell us what a US or UK carrier charges you here. Ask your home carrier. What the page does say:

• ANACOM defines the European Economic Area for this page as the European Union countries plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. The United Kingdom and the United States are not in that list.
• Within that area, since 15 June 2017 operators must apply Roam Like at Home, so a roaming price cannot exceed what the customer pays for national communications, and included allowances count.
• An operator may apply a fair use policy: checks on abusive or anomalous roaming outside periodic travel, including whether presence in the home country prevails, observed over at least four months, or a request that you prove habitual residence in Portugal or stable ties. These rules must be in your contract. The page gives tables of the surcharges that may apply.
• Outside the area, check with the operator before traveling whether your plan includes roaming and the prices. This applies to a Portuguese plan on a trip to the US or UK.

What if I have a problem with the operator?

ANACOM says to use the electronic complaints book (livro de reclamações eletrónico), whose complaints have the same validity as a paper book. The operator has 15 working days to reply, and ANACOM sees both the complaint and the reply. Include your identity, the contract details (operator and customer or phone number), a clear description, and documents, such as a copy of the contract, the cancellation request with proof of sending, or the porting request.

ANACOM says by law it cannot mediate disputes between operators and customers: it investigates and may open an administrative offense procedure that can end in a sanction. If the operator does not solve the problem, it recommends consumer dispute arbitration centers (Centros de Arbitragem de Conflitos de Consumo) or the Julgados de Paz, which it says are faster and cheaper than courts. Its free helpline is 800 206 665, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. If an operator activates a contract in your name without your knowledge, ANACOM says to report it to the police (PSP or GNR) or the public prosecutor.

Next on the settling-in list is usually setting up electricity, gas and water. For letters and parcels, see mail, parcels and customs.

Official pages read

We read, on 19 October 2026, the ANACOM Portal do Consumidor pages on lock-in periods, contracting services, cancelling services, distance and door-to-door contracts, number portability, roaming and complaining to ANACOM. We did not read the text of Lei n.º 16/2022 on the Diário da República, ANACOM’s pages on mobile equipment or on the Tarifa Social de Internet, or any operator’s page. We found no ANACOM page on identification for prepaid SIM cards. The rules on that point come from ANACOM’s summaries of the Regulamento da Portabilidade, an ANACOM Decision of 9 March 2012, Decreto-Lei n.º 24/2014 and Portaria n.º 284/2022, which we did not read ourselves (nor Lei n.º 16/2022).