2009-11-04 08:15:04 - Brazil Telecommunications Report Q4 2009 - a new market research report on companiesandmarkets.com

www.companiesandmarkets.com/Summary-Market-Report/brazil-telecom ..

Brazil continues to be one of the most dynamic telecoms markets in Latin America. Its economy has
remained quite robust in the face of global economic turmoil helping push it onto the world stage. This
has encouraged operators and product developers to look to Brazil for growth of services. The growing
middle class in Brazil is driving the demand for value-added services (VAS) and mobile content
benefiting operators across the board.
Data from Anatel show how 3G services have been embraced by Brazilian subscribers. The number of
data terminals, used to access broadband services via 3G networks, has seen the fastest growth while WCDMA
subscriptions outweigh CDMA2000 options. BMI maintains that the 3G market will reach
around 15% of the total market by the end of 2013 with

 

 

the overall mobile market hitting 110%
penetration. We expect growth to remain strong as many areas of the country still have quite low
penetration rates. However, reaching these more remote regions will see ARPUs fall further putting
additional pressure on operators.
Meanwhile the fixed-line market is seeing growth continue to slow as alternative operators successfully
provide growth in the market. Incumbents Oi and Telefônica have continued to see falling subscriber
numbers and eventually these will counter the gains made by smaller operators in the market. All
operators in the market are relying on broadband services to maintain growth levels.
Telefônica´s broadband service was dealt a blow at the end of June 2009 when Anatel banned it from
selling any of its ´Speedy´-branded services following two network failures affecting Brazil´s largest city
and financial centre, São Paulo. The ban ended shortly before publishing this report and lasted two
months and will have undoubtedly affected the company´s Q309 results (unavailable at the time of
writing). Net Serviços has been rapidly catching up to Telefônica´s second-ranked position and could
quickly overtake the state incumbent.
Brazil´s strong economic position and good growth prospects in the telecoms market has seen it return to
the number two spot in BMI´s Business Environment Rankings. As one of the best placed economies to
recover from the downturn Brazil´s prospects looking forward seem good which will help the telecoms
market continue to develop across the country.