Cell phone is responsible for telephone spreading in Brazil
Data from the National Household Sample Survey (IBGE - PNAD 2009) show a scenario much different from what we had eleven ago, when the privatization took place and was created a new regulatory mark for the telecom sector.
In 1998, 32% of the Brazilian domiciles had telephone, while in 2009 the device was present in 84.9% of the domiciles. This transformation is reaching even the rural areas. In 2001, only 15.2% of the rural cities had telephone, this percentage increased to 54.8% in 2009.
In opposition to what was believed in 1997, when the General Telecommunication Law (LGT) was promulgated, the big responsible for telephone expansion in Brazil wasn't the fixed telephone but the cell phone.
In 2001, 31% of the domiciles had cell phone and 51% had fixed telephone. This picture was inverted in 2004 and in 2009 78.5% of the Brazilian domiciles had cell phones and 43,1% had fixed telephone.
Cell phone is the preference in the domiciles with only one option of telephone.
In fact, between the domiciles in which the incomes are smaller than 10 minimum wages, 76.6% of them had cell phone and 38.3% had fixed telephones.
This scenario proves that the current regulatory model, based on incumbents and on the targets for fixed telephone expansion, is already outdated.
Cell phone is the popular Brazilian telephone. In 2010, mobile telephony is reaching in all the cities with less than 30 thousand inhabitants and it will affect IBGE's next surveys by showing bigger cellular penetration, even in rural areas.
If the big goal of the current regulatory framework was: spread voice service. The goal imposed to the Brazilian regulatory framework reform is: the expansion of broadband services for Internet accesses.
Internet Access
Yet, Brazil must to overtake cultural, economic and educational barriers in order to increase the number of Internet users in the country.
According to PNAD, the number of Internet users in Brazil grew from 32.1 million in 2005 to 67.9 million in 2009, what represents penetration of 43% among the surveyed people (older than 10 years). This penetration is bigger among teenagers, from 15 to 19 years old.
Other barrier to increase the number of domiciles with internet access is the existence of computer in the house. PNAD shows that the penetration of Internet access in domiciles grows when the penetration of computers increases.
Young people had overcame this barrier by using Lan Houses which charging is similar to prepaid cell phone.
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