MEO vs NOS Portugal (2026)
The short answer
Choose MEO if you ever leave the coastal strip. It won every independent benchmark run in Portugal through 2025 and reaches the interior where NOS thins out. Choose NOS only if you live in Lisbon or Porto and want its prepaid eSIM, which MEO does not sell on prepaid. On price the two are identical: both low-cost brands, UZO and WOO, sell 100 GB for EUR 5 a month.
MEO
Altice Portugal
MEO is the retail brand of Altice Portugal. It is not the same as UZO or Moche, which are its own low-cost and youth brands running on the same radio network.
Cheapest entry: UZO, EUR 5 per month for 100 GB
NOS
NOS SGPS
NOS is a network owner in its own right. WOO and WTF are its low-cost and under-25 brands on the same network, and NOWO is now part of DIGI, not NOS.
Cheapest entry: WOO, EUR 5 per month for 100 GB
Row by row
Fees verified August 2026 against each provider's published data
| Criterion | MEO | NOS |
|---|---|---|
| 4G population coverageWhether you have signal at all, anywhere | ~99%Tie | ~99%Tie |
| 5G base stationsHow dense the 5G layer is, not just whether it exists | 2,465 fastest growth, +57.8% | 4,886Wins second most in Portugal |
| Rural and interior reachThe one place the three networks genuinely differ | Best in the interior and mountainsWins | Weaker in Trás-os-Montes and the Serra da Estrela |
| Independent benchmark rankMeasured speed and reliability, not marketing | 1st on nPerf, Ookla and RootMetricsWins | 3rd on nPerf 2024/2025 |
| Cheapest way onto the networkNobody should pay the parent-brand price | UZO, EUR 5 for 100 GBTie | WOO, EUR 5 for 100 GBTie |
| Prepaid eSIMWhether you can be connected before you land | Not on prepaid, only Moche | Yes, NOS Like 55 GB at EUR 10Wins |
| Youth brandAn age gate can halve the price under 25 | Moche, under 35 | WTF, under 25, 1000 GB at EUR 10Wins |
| Home fibre reachWhether one provider can cover both | ~89% of householdsWins | Wide, strongest in cities |
| Parent-brand contractWhat it costs to change your mind | 24 monthsTie | 24 monthsTie |
So which one
Pick MEO if
- You live or travel outside Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve
- You want the network that leads nPerf, Ookla and RootMetrics
- Home fibre matters as much as mobile
- You are happy on UZO or Moche rather than the parent brand
Pick NOS if
- You want a prepaid eSIM with a Portuguese number, activated online
- You are in Lisbon or Porto and never leave them
- You want the NOS Kids plan for a child's first phone
- You already have NOS fixed internet and want one bill
Other comparisons
3 more pairsHow we compared these two
The criteria are fixed
Every comparison on this site uses the same 9 rows in the same order, so two pages can be read against each other. We do not add a row because one side happens to win it.
A win is a stated threshold
A row is won on the published number or capability, not on judgement. Ties are declared rather than broken. Figures come from provider price lists and official sources.
How we get paid
Both links earn a commission at the same rate, so the winner of a row is never the higher-paying one. Fees come from each provider's own published price list, not a comparison feed.
Sources: provider price lists and official data, accessed August 2026. Next review: November 2026.