MEO (telecommunication company)

MEO (formerly TMN and PTC) is a mobile and fixed telecommunications service and brand from Altice Portugal (formerly Portugal Telecom), managed by MEO - Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia. The service was piloted in Lisbon in 2007 and was later extended to Porto and Castelo Branco.
It was created on September 18, 2000, about 9 months after the liberalization of the Fixed Telecommunications Market in Portugal, it was considered the Historic Fixed Network Operator. On December 29, 2014, Portugal Telecom extinguished the subsidiary TMN, which in January had changed its name to "MEO", integrating its subsidiary into PT Comunicações. On the same date, PT Comunicações adopted the name of the extinct subsidiary – "MEO – Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia".
MEO in its current form was founded in 2007 after the separation of PT Comunicações and PT Multimédia (later ZON and today now NOS). While PT Multimédia employed coaxial cables, after separation, MEO started making use of copper cables. The television service supplied by MEO within the copper cable network is served on the ADSL line. Telecomunicações Móveis Nacionais (TMN), Portugal's first and largest mobile network operator, was later integrated into the MEO brand in 2014 after two of TMN's shareholders, Telefones de Lisboa e Porto (TLP) and Marconi Comunicações Internacionais (the Portuguese operations of the UK-based Marconi Company) were acquired by Portugal Telecom in 1994 and 2002 respectively.
The commercial launch of the ADSL2+ service took place in June 2007. The satellite service began in April 2008, using the Hispasat satellite, soon followed by the FTTH service. The ADSL2+ and FTTH offers reached across Portugal and included broadband Internet services (at up to 400 Mbit/s) as well as a telephone service.
In May 2009, PT Portugal (now Altice) announced, after digital terrestrial television (TDT) transmissions had started, that the triple play service was also available with fiber optic speeds can achieve 400 Mbit/s.
Another service that rely on TDT, MEO TDT, which is included in the 3G plates service that is captured through the mobile internet signals from TDT. This service included one High Definition (HD) channel and the five main Portuguese channels. MEO TDT service also allows some of the advantages found on the ADSL and Fiber Optic service (pause, record...).
In July 2010, PT Portugal informed that MEO had surpassed 700 thousand clients.
In November 2011, MEO achieved one million subscribers. In January 2014, MEO and TMN became a single brand, MEO Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia S.A..
In 2013, MEO launched a quadruple play service called M4O that in addition to the functionalities already referred has added the mobile phone, in a converged strategic logic. In July 2014, MEO launched a bundle which also includes the offering of mobile internet, called M5O.
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The communication campaign invested in a strong advertising effort, protagonized by Portuguese humoristic characters, the Gato Fedorento. In 2015, Marketing left Gato Fedorento after 7 years and Cristiano Ronaldo launches the new campaign for the MEO brand, a sub-division of Altice. In 2018, Sophia arrived, precisely as the new 4K and Portable box with join venture with Cristiano Ronaldo. The current slogan is MEO Humaniza-te.
MEO's technology transmits over fiber optic and ADSL—either television (IPTV), telephone (VOIP) and internet. MEO ADSL integrates a router with a switch, connected to the telephone plug to decode and distribute the signal, and another for the television called MEOBox. The two MEOBox models are built by Motorola and Scientific Atlanta, with a processor, optional hard drive, HDMI slot, two SCART slots, a digital sound slot and an Ethernet slot.
The MEO Fiber Optic service uses an Optical Network Terminal, that decodes the fiber optic signal and passes it to the router.
MEO offers television content transmission through four platforms: the ADSL network (IPTV), fiber optic (IPTV), satellite (DTH) and the 3G/4G network inherited from mobile communications carrier TMN, added to MEO in January 2014.
MEO ADSL television service includes a basic slate of 120 TV channels. Subscribers can access more than 170 channels if purchasing the “MEO Total” bundle, which included HD channels. FTTH MEO offers bundles distinguished by the speed of data transmission. Just like MEO ADSL, the basic package includes 120 channels.
With IPTV channels can be purchased through the MEObox remote control, unlike the satellite and coax services. Another advantage is its speed of 200 milliseconds.
The IPTV network also enables the customer to play games in the MEOBox and to explore content from the internet and dozens of interactive apps. The programming schedule is available along with a “PIP” (Picture In Picture) showing other channels onscreen alongside the current selection. It is also possible to record and pause the show being live transmitted or even watching what was transmitted on the last 7 days (automatic recordings. In geographies where fiber-optic or ADSL networks are not available, MEO offers a television service by satellite.
In 2018, Altice presented a new box. This new 4K WiFi Box has a similar design to the previous one but is much smarter and with a much more intuitive interface.
The anywhere MEO's TV solution is called MEO Go.
MEO VideoClube is a video-on-demand service that offers a catalog of thousands of Portuguese and international programs (including movies, documentaries and concerts). Additional features available include trailers, synopses, cast and IMDb rating; a favorites list; 48-hour viewing window; renting HD/3D movies with dolby surround sound; total control and privacy through a security PIN for “rentals and purchases” and a security PIN to access adult content. MEO VideoClube can be used inside or outside home on televisions, tablets; smartphones or personal computers through MEO Go service; and connected TV's and game consoles.
It is possible to watch movies without an internet connection, using Download & Play, available on a PC through MEO Go. In 2014, the services was refreshed with an improved image, faster navigation and new features with additional content and information, and a more accessible user experience. MEO VideoClube offers multiple payment options including a monthly invoice and the prepaid MEO VideoClube card.
MEO Go allows viewers to watch live TV and video on demand content on Windows, Mac and mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones via any 3G/4G broadband or WiFi internet connection. MEO Go offers over 70 TV live channels; automatic recording; thousands of movies; and access to a programming guide (Guia TV) that contains detailed program information and allows scheduling alerts and remote recordings. The MEO Go free app is available for the Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Windows 8 operating systems. The service is available at no extra cost to MEO TV customers, via MEO's home WiFi; or via any 3G/4G and WiFi internet access.
Since MEO Go's launch, in November 2011, the service added:
In 2013 MEO Go had more than 100.000 monthly active users, and more than 500.000 app downloads. Worldwide, it was recognized as one of the most complete and innovative platforms of its kind, winning international awards, including the CSI Awards 2014 and the Stevie Awards 2014.
The ADSL Internet service offers 24 Mbit/s downstream and 1 Mbit/s for upstream without traffic limitation, nationally or internationally. The fiber optic network allows downstream speeds up to 400 Mbit/s and 100 Mbit/s downstream for a higher data allocation. In 2015 mobile internet was added, named M5O.
The telephone service offers charge free calls without limit to all national fixed networks by on the MEO fixed network (formerly as PTC). Initial costs are integrated in the MEO service subscription.
Mobile phone service is supplied through the TMN networks. Following the demise of the TMN brand, tariffs remained unchanged and the telephonic support line (1696) remained the same as well. In 2015 telephone service was included in a quadruple play pack, named M4O.
IPTV technology allowed MEO to provide several interactive services, namely during the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Currently MEO has interactive applications in the IPTV and Satellite service (example MEO Radios).
In the strategy for portfolio diversification and new businesses, MEO Energia is launched, through PT Live, a partner of Altice Portugal, adding energy exclusively produced from 100% renewable sources and communication.
On August 6, 2020, Altice Portugal informed the Competition Authority that it acquired PT Live and that it will change its name to MEO Energia.
MEO sponsored all the "Big Three" from the Primeira Liga (Benfica, Porto and Sporting) from 2005 to 2015, when he sold for the rights with NOS. However it started sponsoring Porto again, as well as Rio Ave and Desportivo das Aves. It is also a sponsor of the FPF Football. It also sponsors athletes such as footballer CR7, Moto GP racer Miguel Oliveira, surfer Frederico Morais and World Surf League event MEO RCP Portugal.
In July 2016, MEO shared the broadcasting rights of NOS and Vodafone Portugal on the proposal of the live broadcasts of FC Porto, which currently broadcasts on Porto Canal, according to an agreement with the CMVM.
The company that had owned the Primeira Liga matches through the portuguese Sport TV channel.
The service was created by PT in 2014 after the merger between PT Negócios and PT Prime and offers a range of technological and telecommunications solutions for SMEs - Small, Medium-sized Companies and Large Companies and Institutions, such as the Government of Portugal. Changed name in January 2020 from the previous PT Empresas to Altice Empresas, becoming MEO Empresas in 2023.
A MEO advertisement for data access was the focus of a discussion beginning in October 2017 in Portugal, the European Union and the United States and relating to net neutrality.
MEO posted their advertisement for Internet services on their own website. On 26 October 2017, Democratic Party U.S. Representative Ro Khanna posted a screenshot of MEO's website to his Twitter feed while stating that their sales model was a violation of net neutrality.
Following Khanna's message, the technology community at Reddit discussed it on 27 October. Net neutrality advocate Cory Doctorow featured the ad as an illustration of a net neutrality violation on Boing Boing on 28 October. Quartz reported that the ad showed a net neutrality violation on 30 October. Tim Wu, the legal scholar who defined the term "net neutrality", commented on 30 October after reading the Quartz article that the ad did show a violation of net neutrality. From this point the discussion was far ranging. By 22 November, MEO published a response to the attention.
Many media sources reported that the sales model which the image described was a bad thing for being a violation of net neutrality.
Some other media sources reported that many people are misunderstanding the image. To clarify, these sources reported that MEO's sales model is aligned with Portuguese and European law, and that law defines net neutrality in a way that permits MEO's sales model. In another clarification point, sources noted that the MEO ad is for services to mobile phones and not an additional fee to broadband service (cf. EU Regulation 2015/2120).