Brazilian Cellular Service Providers - An Industry Overview (2008-2009)

Abstract:     
All areas of Brazil's telecoms market saw growth in 2008 including the fixed-line market, which had previously reported a decline. This reflects the high level of competition present across the country, with several operators competing for subscribers. Alternative operators have more than held up the fixed-line market in 2008 with the incumbents Oi and Telefônica reporting continual declines in their subscriber bases. Cable operators and smaller companies such as CTBC and Embratel have been instrumental in bringing growth back to the fixed-line market, and it is anticipated this will keep the market growing until 2011, by which time mobile substitution will finally win out.

In the broadband market, growth remained above 40%, with 2008 growing slightly faster than 2007 and seeing 10mn connections reached by the end of the year. As in the fixed-line market, it is alternative operators that have been providing large amounts of the growth in the market. Although DSL remains the favored technology for broadband connections in Brazil, there is growing interest in cable modem connections with triple-play services helping to drive up subscriptions. However, the strong competition is causing operators to report declining ARPUs from their broadband operations although this should improve in the long run as subscribers require greater bandwidth for a wider variety of applications.

Topics Covered:
• Brazilian Business Environment and its SWOT analysis
• ARPU
• Industry Developments and Regulatory Environment
• Market overview of Brazilian Mobile Market
• Subscribers and Market Share
• Competitive Landscape (top four players of Brazilian Mobile market)

Number of Pages in PDF File: 24

Keywords: Brazilian Telecom, Cellular Service Provider, ARPU, Competitive Landscape, Mobile market, Regulatory Issues

JEL Classification: L96

working papers series