NOS Portugal

The story of NOS is not one of a single founder but of a strategic union between two established Portuguese telecom players. The company as it exists today was formed in 2013 through the merger of ZON Multimédia and Optimus Telecommunications. This wasn't a startup story, but a calculated move to consolidate and create a powerhouse in the national telecommunications market. ZON had its roots in Portugal Telecom, the state's former telecom monopoly. In 2007, PT spun off its multimedia division, which included the cable TV service TV Cabo, creating ZON Multimédia. Optimus, on the other hand, was the mobile operator belonging to the Sonae conglomerate, which entered the market in 1998. The game-changing event was the 2013 merger, driven by major shareholders Sonaecom and Isabel dos Santos. The fusion created ZON Optimus, a company with a comprehensive portfolio combining ZON's strength in cable television and internet with Optimus's mobile network. This move was designed to compete more effectively with market leader Portugal Telecom. In October 2013, Optimus's CEO, Miguel Almeida, was appointed to lead the new entity. In May 2014, the company underwent a major rebranding, shedding the ZON and Optimus names to become a single, unified brand: NOS. The name, meaning "we" or "us" in Portuguese, signaled a new chapter focused on integrated services. Today, NOS stands as a major force in Portugal, offering a full suite of services from mobile and fixed-line telephone to television and internet.