YOU ARE AT:AmericasWith $90B of investment, Brazil could triple broadband access in 10 years

With $90B of investment, Brazil could triple broadband access in 10 years

The number of broadband access lines in Brazil could more than triple by 2020, and users could see significantly higher speeds if investments of R$ 144.6 billion by 2020 (US$ 90 billion) were made, according to the National Union of Telephone Companies and Mobile Service (SindiTelebrasil).

The research, done by LCA Consulting, said the 40.9 million connections today could reach 78 million in 2014, and 153.6 million in 2020, driven by natural growth. However, if no action to encourage public or private investment, the expansion would be limited to 57.3 million connections in 2014 and 93.2 million in 2020.

Today, the average speed of broadband access in Brazil is 1.7 megabits per second (Mbps) and most of the hits are concentrated in the range of up to 2 Mbps. SindiTelebrasil believes that with additional investment, 87.2% of broadband connections would pass 12 Mbps in 2020.

Penetration could also grow. Today, broadband penetration is 21.5%, and could reach up to 74.2% of the population by 2020, driving Brazil to have an access profile similar to Asian and European countries.

To stimulate the expansion of infrastructure, the SindiTelebrasil study said that it’s necessary to have immediate availability of spectrum, suggesting the 700 MHz and 2.5 GHz, bands, along with approval of PLC 166, which proposes new rules for the cable TV sector, which was approved last week. The study points out the need to stimulate selling bundled services, which give end users cheaper bills, and asks for regulatory flexibility as well.

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ABOUT AUTHOR

Roberta Prescott
Roberta Prescott
Editor, [email protected] Roberta Prescott is responsible for Latin America reporting news and analysis, interviewing key stakeholders. Roberta has worked as an IT and telecommunication journalist since March 2005, when she started as a reporter with InformationWeek Brasil magazine and its website IT Web. In July 2006, Prescott was promoted to be the editor-in-chief, and, beyond the magazine and website, was in charge for all ICT products, such as IT events and CIO awards. In mid-2010, she was promoted to the position of executive editor, with responsibility for all the editorial products and content of IT Mídia. Prescott has worked as a journalist since 1998 and has three journalism prizes. In 2009, she won, along with InformationWeek Brasil team, the press prize 11th Prêmio Imprensa Embratel. In 2008, she won the 7th Unisys Journalism Prize and in 2006 was the editor-in-chief when InformationWeek Brasil won the 20th media award Prêmio Veículos de Comunicação. She graduated in Journalism by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, has done specialization in journalism at the Universidad de Navarra (Spain, 2003) and Master in Journalism at IICS – Universidad de Navarra (Brazil, 2010) and MBA – Executive Education at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.