Portugal: SIP providers and connecting a number to the PBX

This page continues the general guide on connecting a provider's number to the PBX: that page covers what is the same for any operator — the two trunk modes, what to ask the provider, what to enter in the form, network requirements and the connectivity check. Here are the Portuguese specifics: who in the country sells a number with a SIP trunk, what that operator issues and what of it to enter in Telephony → "Trunks and connections" → "Add provider".

The data was collected on 9 September 2026 from operator documentation, PBX vendor certifications and materials of the regulator ANACOM; links are in the "Sources" section.

In short#

• You can buy a number with a SIP trunk in Portugal. A venue needs no licence and no permit: instead of a licence the country has a notification to ANACOM, and it is filed by the operator you buy connectivity from.
• The market is contract-driven, not self-service. At the three largest operators — MEO/Altice, Vodafone Portugal and NOS — a SIP trunk is sold as a project: the server address, the number of channels and the number range are issued by an engineer during installation, and none of them publishes a page with the parameters.
• If you already have a contract with MEO/Altice or Vodafone, take their trunk. Both work by IP, and literally without a password: they do not issue a login and a password at all, the whole authorisation relies on the static address of your PBX.
• If you have not picked an operator yet, take G9 Telecom or Let's Call. G9 is the only local operator with a confirmed registration (REGISTER) mode and G.711 codecs only, which is exactly our set. Let's Call sells "Linhas SIP" from €9.90 a month and explicitly claims Asterisk compatibility — the fastest route without a project installation.
• The main local pitfall: an operator's "SIP trunk" often means its own access line as well. Altice asks for a dedicated VLAN on the equipment's WAN port, OptiTelecom includes its own "voice VPN" box in the price. Our PBX lives in the cloud, not in the venue: have that condition removed explicitly, before signing.
• The second pitfall is IP authorisation without a password. Recreate the PBX server, the address changes and the trunk dies silently. And Vodafone has two session border controllers, while the engineer usually names only one: calls from the second will arrive from an unknown address.
• There is no geographic "2" number without a Portuguese address. Local operators require a contract and an installation address, and international providers simply do not have Portuguese geographic numbers — only nomadic "30", mobile "9" and 800.

Numbers in the country#

• Country code — +351. The plan is closed and nine digits long: all nine digits are always dialled, there is no leading 0 either inside a city or between cities.
• The "2" range — geographic numbers: 21… for Lisbon, 22… for Porto, then three-digit district codes (289… for the Algarve and others). Operator configurations write the format as 2XX XXX XXX.
• The "30" range — nomadic numbers, opened by the regulator specifically for VoIP not tied to the installation site. This is what is sold "in one click": a "30" number is included in the entry-level Let's Call plan, and international providers sell it too.
• Mobile numbers — the "9" range (91, 92, 93, 96), also nine digits.
• Special numbering: 800 — free for the caller, 808 — shared cost, 707 and 708 — nomadic service numbers, 76x — premium rate. The emergency number is the pan-European 112.
• Dialling: inside Portugal — nine digits with no prefixes at all, abroad — 00 + the country code.

On the "Lines" tab a number can be entered in any form: the PBX matches the last seven digits. Both Altice and Vodafone deliver the incoming number as nine digits in the national format, so the match works with no tuning; for operators that send 351XXXXXXXXX the tail is exactly the same.

Who issues a number with a SIP trunk#

The first three rows are the operators whose mode and parameters are known in advance: their cards are below, followed by the Let's Call card. The next eight issue trunk parameters only after a contract, and they have a section of their own. Why NOWO/Digi and the operators' cloud PBXs will not work is further down.

MEO / Altice Portugal#

The country's largest operator: the MEO brand, the legal entity Altice Portugal. The SIP trunk is sold as "SIP Trunk IP" or "SIP Trunk Primário" inside the corporate GlobalConnect package; numbers, the DDI list and the company's main number ("Número Geral") are managed in the operator's self-care portal. The parameters below come from the Unify/iTancia certification for OpenScape Business (version 1.1 of 09.09.2024) — a public document from a PBX vendor, not a retelling.

What to enter in the admin panel

What to set up at the provider: give the Altice engineer the static IP of your PBX — it is shown on the "Server" tab in the Telephony section → get the SIP server address and the range of numbers issued to you (it comes as a block, for example ten consecutive numbers) → agree the number of simultaneous calls → in the GlobalConnect portal check the "Número Geral" and the DDI list against what you create on the Lines tab.

Pitfalls ⚠️ Since there is no password, the whole protection rests on your address: recreate the PBX server and the trunk goes quiet on both incoming and outgoing calls, with the operator none the wiser. Agree any address change in advance. Altice may require a VLAN on the WAN port of the equipment (VLAN 5 by default) — a sign that the trunk is expected on its own access line; for a PBX in the cloud, tell the engineer explicitly that the link is someone else's. The server addresses found in certifications and on forums are examples; in your contract they will be different, and copying them "by analogy" is pointless. And do not confuse the corporate trunk with the historical residential MEO VoIP on voip.sapo.pt: that is a different product and its decade-old instructions do not work. Source: Unify — OSBiz SIP Trunk Configuration, Altice Portugal, MEO Empresas — GlobalConnect Portal Selfcare SIP Trunk — 09.09.2026.

Vodafone Portugal#

The country's second operator. Its shop window for fixed business connectivity is the managed One Net PBX, but a "clean" SIP trunk to your own PBX does exist and is certified by PBX vendors. The scheme is the same as at Altice: authorisation by address, no credentials issued.

What to enter in the admin panel

What to set up at the provider: give the engineer the static IP of your PBX from the "Server" tab → get the addresses of both session border controllers and the number range → confirm the format of your own number on outgoing calls (351 + nine digits, no plus) → agree the number of simultaneous calls.

Pitfalls ⚠️ The operator has two controllers, and calls may arrive from either one. Our PBX identifies incoming calls by the trunk's SIP host, so the second address means a second trunk in the "Trunks and connections" list with the same number range. Create only one and exactly half the incoming calls will be lost, showing up in diagnostics as calls from an unknown address. Next: the trunk's status line will never show a successful registration — the operator does not require one, that is normal, and the check is a test call. T.38 is not supported — a fax will only pass as ordinary audio over G.711. And ready-made "Vodafone" templates from other countries (Germany, the United Kingdom) do not fit the Portuguese arm: it has its own scheme. Source: Unify — OSBiz SIP Trunk Configuration, Vodafone Portugal, Vodafone Business — One Net — 09.09.2026.

G9 Telecom#

A Portuguese telecoms and energy operator; its telephony product is called CloudVoice and, in the operator's own words, "integrates with third-party systems". It is the only local operator whose certified profile works by registration — that is, with no correspondence about address allowlists. Its codecs are exactly ours: the certification requires G.729 to be disabled and only G.711 to remain.

What to enter in the admin panel

What to set up at the provider: order a CloudVoice SIP trunk with the required number of channels and numbers → receive the SMS with the login and the password, and ask for the server address in writing → set the "Default number" — the +351… number presented when an employee has none of their own → confirm that the codec is G.711 and that G.729 is disabled.

Pitfalls ⚠️ The credentials arrive by SMS to the number on the contract: if the contract was signed by an integrator or by the venue's previous owner, the password will never reach you — ask for it to be reissued to your number. The operator does not support call deflection via SIP 302, so third-party instructions saying "transfer the call outside with a 302 response" must not be applied; on our side the transfer is bridged on the PBX anyway, so nothing is lost. There is no T.38 — faxes only as audio — and no "secure trunk" mode is offered, which means you will not need encrypted signalling either. The number of simultaneous calls is set by the operator at installation. Source: Unify — OpenScape Business V3: How to Configure G9 Telecom Portugal, G9 Telecom — CloudVoice — 09.09.2026.

Let's Call#

A Portuguese VoIP operator (Let's Call — Comunicações, Lda.), the only one on this market with genuine self-service. The product is called "Linhas SIP" and is described with exactly our scenario: "adicione linhas IP (SIP Trunk) à sua central telefónica". The operator's list of compatible systems names Asterisk directly (along with 3CX, FreePBX, Elastix, Yeastar, Cisco and others), and the codecs are declared as "G711A/U e G729" — both flavours of G.711 are there, so the link will come up.

The Ibéria plan range: S — €9.90 a month (one channel, one number from the 30 range, new or ported, 1000 minutes to fixed numbers in Portugal and Spain), M — €19.90 a month (two channels). Special numbering 707/800/808 and numbers in more than 60 countries are sold separately. Porting is free with a commitment period, otherwise €15 + VAT.

The trunk parameters — the platform address, the port and the mode — are not published by the operator and are issued when the line is activated, with a promise to help with the integration. So when ordering, go through the What to ask the provider list and be sure to clarify two points: whether the trunk works by registration or by your address, and whether the G.711 A-law codec is enabled.

Pitfalls ⚠️ The plan counts channels, not minutes: Ibéria S is exactly one simultaneous call, and a second caller hears the busy tone. For a dining room that both takes orders and runs a voice bot, take at least M or pay for extra channels. And second: the default number in the plan is from the 30 range, nomadic rather than geographic — a guest will see 30… on your site instead of the familiar 21…. A geographic number is ordered separately from this operator. Source: Let's Call — Linhas Sip, Let's Call — Numeração especial — 09.09.2026.

Operators that issue parameters under contract#

At these operators a trunk for a third-party PBX is a regular product, but the server address, the authorisation mode and the credentials only appear in the contract or after installation. The list of questions worth asking a sales manager before signing is in What to ask the provider. Three questions are mandatory: do they hand out the trunk over UDP or TCP (our PBX does not support encrypted signalling at all), is G.711 A-law enabled, and will they allow the trunk to a server address in someone else's cloud rather than at the venue.

• NOS — the third large operator. Its corporate product "Voz Fixa IP" is a SIP interconnect between the customer's equipment and the operator's IMS core, and it is positioned precisely for companies keeping their own PBX. The catch is elsewhere: today its public pages only show the managed NOS Central Pro and NOS Central One solutions, and the trunk product page did not open on 09.09.2026. Ask the salesperson explicitly about connecting your own PBX, otherwise the conversation drifts to a cloud PBX. The trunk runs over the operator's network, so ask the cloud question first.
• Oni (Onitelecom) — a corporate operator with its own data centres. The "ONI SIP Corporate" product is interesting because access to it is explicitly allowed "from Oni or from a third party", meaning the internet link may be someone else's — the most convenient wording on this market for a PBX in the cloud. The codecs in the description are "G.711 or G.729": demand G.711 in writing, otherwise you get the classic "the call connects but there is no audio". Encrypted signalling is an option at this operator; ask for it not to be enabled, or the trunk will not come up with us.
• Ar Telecom — a business operator with its own network and data centre. The service is described with our target phrase, "a solution for customers with SIP-capable telephone systems", with "SIP accounts and trunk" among its features, both geographic and nomadic numbering, and portable numbers. Next to it the operator runs its own cloud platform, Meetip — that is not a trunk; keep the two apart when talking to sales.
• IP Telecom — an operator of the Infraestruturas de Portugal group with three data centres (Lisbon, Porto, Viseu). "SIP VoIP" access is sold from a single channel to hundreds, the operator holds its own numbering plan from the regulator and gives out blocks of up to 100 numbers per access, offers 800/808/707 and porting, and runs round-the-clock support. Its customer base is the public sector and large corporations, so for a small venue the path to a contract will be noticeably longer than at Let's Call.
• OptiTelecom — a fixed-line operator; its "Fixed Voice Lines via SIP Trunk" target PBXs and phones with SIP support, and the number of simultaneous channels is limited only by the equipment and the bandwidth. The main caveat: the price includes "equipment for voice VPN connection", meaning the operator installs its own box up to the customer's site by default. For a cloud PBX this must be removed explicitly, asking instead for plain SIP over the internet.
• Colt — an international operator with its own network, listed among the certified partners for Portugal. Its authorisation is traditionally by address on its session border controller, and there is no public Asterisk guide — everything goes through a manager and connection times are measured in weeks. It makes economic sense for a chain of venues with a contract already in place, not for a single restaurant.
• Telxi — a Spanish number aggregator, also certified for Portugal. The vendor's site publishes neither the country list nor the trunk parameters, so confirm with support that Portuguese numbers — and especially geographic "2" ones — really exist before paying. A "certified for the country" badge only means the vendor's trunk has been tested, not that it holds local numbering.
• VoiPortugal — a small reseller registered with the regulator to provide VoIP services, working with nomadic numbering. There is no public description of a trunk to a third-party PBX, no tariffs and no parameters on the site, and the site itself has not been updated for years. Before paying, write to support and make sure the service is alive and that they will sell you a SIP account for an external PBX.

Who will not work#

• NOWO / Digi Portugal. Businesses are sold "internet + TV + voice + mobile" bundles in which voice comes with their access and their equipment; the operator has no public SIP trunk to a third-party PBX. The group does have such a product in Romania, but as of 09.09.2026 nothing of the sort is offered in Portugal.
• The operators' cloud PBXs instead of a trunk. NOS Central One and Central Pro, and Vodafone One Net as such, are ready-made operator PBXs: there is no room for our PBX in them and the numbers live inside their platform. This is the most common substitution in a sales conversation — ask specifically for a "SIP trunk para central própria".
• Any interconnect where the operator insists on TLS and SRTP only. Our trunks work over UDP and TCP, and the PBX does not support encrypted signalling — see the provider requirements. Among Portuguese operators this only comes up at Oni, and there it is an option you can leave off.
• A trunk tied to the venue's premises. If the operator makes its own access line, its own box or a VPN to the restaurant a condition, the service physically cannot reach a server in the cloud. Check this with your first question, not after signing.

International providers with Portuguese numbers#

Portuguese numbers are sold by Zadarma, Twilio, Telnyx, DIDWW, Plivo, Vonage, Bandwidth, Sonetel and other aggregators. It is a sensible route if the company is registered outside Portugal or if you need numbers in several countries at once — with one important caveat.

• They have no geographic "2" numbers. An international provider's Portuguese range is usually limited to three types: the nomadic 30, the mobile 9 and the toll-free 800. If a guest has to see a Lisbon 21… on your storefront, you have to go to a local operator.
• A Portuguese address will still be required. Twilio demands an address "within Portugal" and a commercial register extract for a legal entity on mobile and national numbers, Zadarma asks for an address in Portugal on all three of its number types, and for 800 also a photo with an ID. So an international provider removes the contract problem, not the address problem.
• The nomadic 30 is usually enough for a venue. It is cheaper than a geographic number, is not tied to an installation address and survives a move — and the guest calls the number from your site or listing anyway.
• Modes differ, and some providers are already in the catalogue. Cards for Zadarma, Telnyx and Twilio are available when adding a provider — the server address and the mode are filled in automatically. Twilio, for example, has no registration at all, only authorisation by address.
• Count the channels in advance. A Zadarma Portuguese number includes two simultaneous lines — enough for a small dining room, not enough for deliveries at peak hours.

Number porting#

• The porting rules were updated by ANACOM regulation No. 38/2025, in force since 10 November 2025: it clarifies the transparency of the procedure, the porting validation code mechanism CVP (Código de Validação da Portabilidade) and the compensation due to the subscriber when deadlines are missed.
• The deadline is up to one working day from the agreed date; if network engineering work is required, porting completes within one working day after it.
• The CVP is obtained from the losing operator — on the invoice, in the customer portal or by calling support. At IP Telecom, for instance, support runs round the clock on the short number 16122.
• Porting into a SIP trunk is a routine operation at local operators: Let's Call does it for free with a commitment period (€15 + VAT otherwise), while Ar Telecom, OptiTelecom and IP Telecom state number portability directly in their service descriptions.
• The nomadic 30 range ports just like a geographic number and is not tied to an address — the only practical way to take a number with you when the venue moves. A geographic "2" number is bound to its installation address and cannot be kept when moving to another district.

Rules and documents#

If it does not work#

1. The Altice or Vodafone trunk is silent although the address and the port are correct. At both operators authorisation runs by your PBX address, not by a password. Take the static IP from the "Server" tab and make sure the engineer entered exactly that one. If the server was recreated or resized, tell the operator the new address.
2. About half of the incoming calls arrive at Vodafone. The operator has two session border controllers, while a trunk identifies incoming calls by its own SIP host. Ask for both addresses and create a second trunk with the same number range.
3. The trunk's status line never shows a registration. For Altice, Vodafone and other operators with authorisation by address this is normal: they require no registration, and the trunk honestly reports "registration not required". Check that it works with a test call and the Check connection button, not by the registration line.
4. The call connects but there is silence. The codecs did not negotiate. Most often this happens at operators whose description says "G.711 or G.729" (Oni and the other contract-only ones): we do not have G.729 at all. Ask for G.711 A-law to be enabled — see the provider requirements.
5. G9 Telecom does not register. Check that you are entering the login and the password from the SMS rather than a phone number, and that the server address came from the operator in writing rather than from someone else's guide: in the certified 3CX and OpenScape profiles it is hidden inside the template and written out nowhere.
6. Incoming calls arrive but the line is not matched. Portuguese operators deliver the number as nine digits, and some as 351XXXXXXXXX; matching by the last seven digits survives both formats. If the line still is not matched, check that the operator really routed the number to this trunk instead of leaving it on the previous service.
7. Outgoing calls are rejected or present the wrong number. The format of your own number differs by operator: Altice expects nine digits, Vodafone 351 plus nine digits without the plus, G9 +351…. None of them will pass someone else's number. Adjust the prefix in a rule on the Outgoing tab.
8. The operator says "first we install equipment at your premises". That is Altice with its VLAN, OptiTelecom with its "voice VPN" or NOS with its own access network. Explain that the PBX stands in the cloud on a static address and ask for plain SIP over the internet; if the operator refuses, pick one that explicitly allows a third-party internet link.

Causes that do not depend on the country are in If calls do not go through.

Frequently asked questions#

Which operator should I pick if nothing is connected yet?#

If the venue already has a corporate contract with MEO/Altice or Vodafone, take their SIP trunk: it works by your address, without a login and a password, and is set up in the admin panel in a minute. If there is no contract and you need a quick start — G9 Telecom (registration with a login and a password, G.711 codecs only) or Let's Call (from €9.90 a month, declared Asterisk compatibility). The other operators only give parameters after a contract and an installation, and that takes weeks.

Can I get a Portuguese number if my company is registered outside Portugal?#

A geographic 21… or 22… — practically not: local operators work under a contract with a Portuguese tax number and an installation address, and international providers simply do not carry Portuguese geographic numbers. The realistic option is a nomadic 30 number or a mobile 9 from an international provider, but it will ask for a Portuguese address too: that is a requirement attached to the number, not to the operator.

What does "no password" at Altice and Vodafone mean — is it safe?#

It is the standard mode for corporate trunks: the operator accepts calls only from an address it knows and sends incoming calls to the same place, so no login is needed. Our dedicated PBX has a static IP, so the scheme fits. The flip side is that the address becomes the only key: change it without warning the operator and the trunk dies silently, with no error message.

How does a "30" number differ from a geographic one, and is it worth taking?#

The "30" range is nomadic numbering opened by the regulator for VoIP: it is not tied to an installation address, costs less, is sold without a project installation and travels with you when the venue moves. The one downside is recognisability: a guest sees 30… instead of Lisbon's familiar 21…. If the number appears on your storefront and in directories, a geographic one looks more solid; if it merely takes orders, there is no difference.

How many simultaneous calls does a venue need?#

Usually two or three: one is busy with a guest, the second with a courier or a supplier. At local operators the channel count is set by the contract, at Let's Call by the plan (Ibéria S is exactly one call). Ask about it before signing: "busy after the second call" almost always means a contract limit rather than a fault.

Will I be able to port my current number to a new operator?#

Yes. Porting is regulated by ANACOM, the deadline is up to one working day from the agreed date, the request is filed by the gaining operator, and you obtain the CVP validation code from the losing one — on the invoice, in the portal or by phone. Both geographic and nomadic numbers port; a geographic one stays tied to its district.

Sources#

All links checked on 09.09.2026.

Operators and PBX vendor certifications

• Unify/iTancia — OpenScape Business: Altice Portugal SIP trunk configuration, v1.1: https://wiki.unify.com/images/4/46/OSBiz-SIP-Trunk-Configuration-Altice-Portugal.pdf
• Unify/iTancia — OpenScape Business: Vodafone Portugal SIP trunk configuration, v1.1: https://wiki.unify.com/images/e/e1/OSBiz-SIP-Trunk-Configuration-Vodafone-Portugal.pdf
• Unify — OpenScape Business V3: How to Configure G9 Telecom Portugal, v1.2: https://wiki.unify.com/images/4/48/SIP-Trunk-Configuration-G9_Telecom.pdf
• MEO Empresas — GlobalConnect Portal Selfcare SIP Trunk, user manual: https://conteudos.meo.pt/empresarial/Documentos/Manuais/202012GlobalConnectSIPTunk_Manualdeutilizacao_PortalSelfCare.pdf
• Vodafone Business Portugal — One Net: https://www.vodafone.pt/business/comunicacoes/central/one-net.html
• G9 Telecom — CloudVoice: https://www.g9telecom.pt/
• Let's Call — Linhas Sip (plans, codecs, compatibility): https://letscall.pt/linhas-sip/
• Let's Call — Numeração especial 707/800/808: https://letscall.pt/numeros-especiais/
• NOS Empresas — Voz e Central Telefónica para negócio: https://www.nos.pt/empresas/comunicacoes/voz/voz-para-empresas
• Oni — ONI SIP Corporate product sheet 2026: https://www.oni.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ficha-Oni-SIP-2026.pdf
• Ar Telecom — Serviços VoIP: https://artelecom.pt/voip-ucaas/voip
• IP Telecom — Serviço Fixo Telefónico: https://www.iptelecom.pt/pt-pt/servicos/servico-fixo-telefonico
• OptiTelecom — SIP Trunk IP Voice Lines: https://www.optitelecom.pt/en/10-sip-trunk-ip-voice-lines
• Colt — SIP Trunking: https://www.colt.net/product/sip-trunking/
• 3CX — SIP Trunk Providers: Portugal (tested and certified): https://www.3cx.com/partners/sip-trunks/portugal/
• NOWO Empresas — business bundles: https://www.nowo.pt/empresas/

Regulator and law

• ANACOM — Numeração: https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=337632
• ANACOM — Plano Nacional de Numeração: https://anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=423086
• ANACOM — access to the activity and the register of operators: https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=337616
• ANACOM — portability and rights of use for numbers (the "2" and "30" ranges, VoIP): https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1393634
• ANACOM — opening of the regulatory procedure on nomadism (13.08.2025): https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1814776
• ANACOM — number portability regulation No. 38/2025: https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1800747
• ANACOM — number porting: clearer rules (in force since 10.11.2025): https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1821516
• ANACOM — how to protect yourself from spoofing (Dicas 27): https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1829237

International providers

• Twilio — Portugal regulatory guidelines: https://www.twilio.com/en-us/guidelines/pt/regulatory
• Zadarma — virtual numbers of Portugal: https://zadarma.com/en/tariffs/numbers/portugal/

Related pages#

• Connecting a provider's number to the PBX — the general steps, trunk modes, network and the connectivity check.
• Setting up SIP phones — how to connect desk phones and DECT to extensions.