Brazil’s telecoms market: The state of play

5G keeps advancing in Brazil, with nearly 950 base stations deployed during February, according to data compiled by consultancy Teleco.

Regulator Anatel’s database indicates there are over 20,500 5G antennas in place across 797 municipalities in Brazil. TIM leads coverage, with its networks available in 465 municipalities through 8,221 deployed sites.

Even if not at such a pace, 5G accesses are also growing and February ended with over 22mn lines, representing nearly 9% of the mobile market, the Anatel figures show. In January, the 5G base was 21.6mn accesses.

In fiber broadband, new contracts have grown at a slower speed, but the FTTH base now surpasses 35mn clients, for close to 75% of the fixed broadband market.

Considering all services – mobile telephony, fixed broadband, pay TV and fixed telephony – there were nearly 340mn contracts in place in the country as of February, representing close to 3mn new accesses in one year.

BNamericas breaks down the statistics and the month’s highlights.

MOBILE BASE

The country saw some 400,000 net mobile additions (new accesses minus disconnections) in February, for 256mn in total by the end of the month, with postpaid lines representing 58.2%, according to Anatel.

Postpaid plans increased by 645,000 during the month, while prepaid ones fell by 247,000.

Market leader Vivo (Telefônica Brasil) had 38.8% of all mobile lines in service, ahead of Claro with 34.1%, TIM Brasil (23.9%), Algar Telecom (1.6%) and others (1.7%).

The three leading players increased their base in February, with Vivo and Claro adding the most lines.

In 5G, Claro remained in the lead, accounting for 38% of all accesses in February. Telefônica Brasil had 36.5% and TIM 25.4%. When compared to January, TIM lost share, Claro was flat and Telefônica grew.

5G grew by 1.1mn new lines in February and as it expands, other technologies decline. 

4G continues to lead, being used on 75.4% of lines, 2G on 8.8% and 3G on 7.7%, according to Anatel.

FIXED BROADBAND

Fixed broadband lost its impetus and totaled 47.9mn accesses in February, virtually flat over January, with fiber accounting for 74.8% of the total.

Legacy technology coaxial cable was present in 18.1% of the base, with radio, metallic cable and satellite in 3.3%, 3% and 0.8%, respectively.

Vivo and Claro led in additions in the month, with 35,400 and 26,900, respectively. Oi, which is undergoing a second judicial reorganization or bankruptcy protection process and selling its fiber base, lost a further 21,600 accesses in February.

Considering all means of access, Claro ended February with a 20.9% market share, followed by Telefônica (14.2%) and Oi (9.9%).

Among internet service providers, Brisanet and Desktop were the highlights, with 10,500 and 10,000 net additions each in February.

Small ISPs and other providers without a nationwide footprint had a combined 42.2% share of the fiber broadband market and 36.5% of total fixed broadband.

This group excludes carriers with a share of more than 1%, which are: EB Fibra (Alloha, 4.4% of the fiber total), Claro (3.9% in fiber), Brisanet (3.7%), Desktop (2.9%), Vero (2.3%), Algar (2.1%), Unifique (2.1%), TIM (2.1%), Brasil TecPar (1.7%), Alares (1.7%) and Americanet (1.4%).

Vero and Americanet merged their operations, but Anatel still reports their bases separately. 

If added together, the combined company would have 1.88mn clients (including mobile, TV and landlines), becoming the largest ISP in the market.

LANDLINES AND PAY TV

Both services continued to shed subscribers, with fixed telephony lines falling to 24.3mn in February from 24.9mn a month before.

The customer base includes concession-holders and companies providing the service under the authorization model.

Overall, considering both authorized players and concessionaires, Claro led the way with 30% of the fixed telephony market, followed by Oi (26.9%), Vivo (26%), Algar Telecom (5.2%) and TIM (2.8%).

Fiber-based providers Americanet, Brisanet and EB Fibra followed, with market shares of 1.2%, 1.2%, and 1.1%, respectively.

Pay-TV subscriptions fell to 11.3mn from 11.5mn. Satellite technology accounted for 53.5% of all connections, down from 53.8%. Coaxial cable grew to 35.2% from 35% while fiber rose to 11.3% from 11.2%.

Market leader Claro had a 46.7% share, followed by Sky/AT&T with 28.9%, Oi with 13%, Vivo with 7.4% and others (4.1%).