Vivo and Claro continue to lead mobile broadband in Brazil
Brazil ended May counting 68.3 million mobile broadband accesses, being:
27.9% of the cellulars in Brazil are mobile broadband accesses.
To evaluate the mobile broadband leaders in Brazil, Teleco selected the following indicators.
| Indicator | Description | Leader |
| Total of Mobile Broadband Accesses | Mobile Broadband Market Share | Claro |
| Accesses via 3G Handests | Participation of accesses via 3G handsets in the total of accesses via handsets (excluding data terminals) | Claro |
| Accesses via 4G Handsets | Number of 4G handsets (excluding data terminals) | Vivo |
| Broadband Data Terminals | Market Share od Broadband Data Terminals | Vivo |
| Data Revenue | Participation of data revenue inside services revenue | Vivo |
| Coverage | Number of cities covered with 3G and 4G | Vivo |
Claro and the mobile broadband leaders in Brazil, according to the indicators analyzed below.
Total of Mobile Broadband Accesses: Claro is the leader
Claro is the leader in mobile broadband market share in Brazil. The carrier ended May/2013 counting 29.6 million accesses, followed by Vivo (19.1 millions), TIM (17.6 millions) and Oi (7.3 millions).
According to Anatel's definition, the number of mobile broadband accesses is figure reached by counting the number of accesses via 3G/4G handsets plus broadband data terminals. M2M data terminals aren't included in this number.
The leadership in 3G handsets, which represented 90% of the mobile broadband accesses in Brazil, assured Claro this result.
Accesses via 3G Handsets: Claro is the most advanced in converting GSM to 3G
The process of converting GSM handsets into 3G, inside Brazilian cellular base, is happening in a naccelerated pace but GSM handsets still represent 73.3% of the total of accesses via cell phones in Brazil (excluding data terminals).
Among the main mobile operators in Brazil, Claro is the most advanced in this process. From Claro's total accesses via handsets (excluding data terminals) 42.6% are 3G.
Claro leads in the total of 3G handsets counting 27.5 million in May/13, followed by TIM (16.8 million), Vivo (15.6 millions) and Oi (6.5 millions).
Although not included in this evaluation, it's important to emphasize that 62.3% of CTBC's accesses via handsets are 3G.
Accesses via 4G handsets: Vivo leads
Claro was the first to launch 4G in Brazil, but Vivo reached the leadership in April and kept it in May.
Brazil ended May having 105 thousand 4G mobile accesses and, kept the current trends, it may end 2013 counting about 1 million 4G cellulars.
The adoption of 4G technology in Brazil may happen in a slower way if compared with the adoption of 3G. Brazil arrived late in the process of adopting 3G and when the service was finally launched, by the end of 2008, there were 287 million 3G mobile accesses in the world. In Mar/13, there were 90.5 million 4G cellulars 4G in the world. This smaller volume is translated into higher prices for Smartphones what delays the spread of technology.
Market Share of Broadband Data Terminals: Vivo is the leader
Brazil ended May reaching 7.1 broadband data terminals (modems), net adds reaching 339 thousand terminals in the first five months of the year.
Vivo is the leader in market share of broadband data terminals (modems) holding 47.9% of market share in May/13, followed by Claro (29.5%), TIM (10.7%) and Oi (10.4%).
Vivo ended May/13 counting 3.4 million broadband data terminals.
Source: Anatel
Data Revenue: Vivo is first
Vivo is the leader in data net revenue holding R$ 1.6 billion in 1Q13. Claro and Oi don't report this indicator.
| R$ Million | 1Q12 |
2Q12 |
3Q12 |
4Q12 |
1Q13 |
| Vivo | 1,318 |
1,351 |
1,414 |
1,565 |
1,566 |
| Tim |
676 |
693 |
758 |
844 |
831 |
In 1Q13, data revenue represented 29.7% of Vivo's services revenue against 21.4% at TIM.
3G Coverage: Vivo covered more cities than the other three operators together
Vivo is the leader in 3G coverage, reaching 3,121 of the cities (86.4% of the population) in May/13.
| cities | 2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
Jun/13 |
| Vivo | 314 |
579 |
1,206 |
2,516 |
3,100 |
3,131 |
| Claro | 282 |
389 |
402 |
657 |
1,116 |
1,187 |
| Tim | 23 |
55 |
195 |
488 |
593 |
890 |
| Oi | 99 |
168 |
211 |
250 |
529 |
864 |
| Total | 448 |
711 |
1,287 |
2,702 |
3,293 |
3,434 |
Vivo is the leader also in the number of cities covered with 4G.
| 4G Coverage | Covered Cities |
Population (%) |
| Vivo | 17 |
18.4% |
| Claro | 15 |
18.6% |
| Oi | 7 |
15.2% |
| TIM | 6 |
9.4% |
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