Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
Brazilian Picture
The number of mobile broadband capable accesses in Brazil grew 82.18% last year, totalizing 18.6 million new devices, according to Anatel – the Brazilian Federal Telecommunications Government Agency. Considering that the overall market increased 18.07%, reaching 242.23 million accesses by the end of 2011, this means a huge and significant rise of the number of mobile internet connected people. In January 2011 the WCDMA (and HSPA) modems and smartphones were only 11% of the total and in December this share reached 17%.
Regional Panorama
Most of this expansion was spearheaded by the Brazilian Southeast Region, which has augmented almost twice the number of accesses, by 96.5% or 10.25 million “subscribers”. In the Amazon region, the states of Amapá and Roraima had increased their number of mobile internet capable “subscribers” by more than 100%. Social effects of the extremes are felt this year. The richest and the poorest Brazilian states enlarged the number of mobile broadband accesses around 100%, implying that the populations most and least digitally included became both more e-included.
Taking into account the share of web capable devices within the global number of mobile accesses, by the end of 2011, the rich states of Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul took the top positions with corresponding percentages of 20.73%, 20.17% and 20.06%. The share mobile internet of the poorest states has also increased, reaching for Maranhão, Piaui (on the Northeast Region) and Para (on the North – Amazon – Region), respectively, 9.23%, 11.62% and 12.44%. The bad news is that the difference between the lowest and the highest shares augmented a lot. This share was 5.96 percentile points in the beginning of the year and became 11.5 in December, intensifying social discrepancies and regional differences.
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Competition Analysis
In terms of competition, the “Brazilian Big Four Ranking” – Vivo, Claro, TIM and Oi – don’t still the same. Their market share, by the end of 2011, were, respectively, 29.54%, 24.93%, 26.46% and 18.78%. TIM, which was the third Brazilian carrier in market share by the beginning of the year, had a huge rise in its subscriber base, growing more than the market average and surpassed Claro, which finished December in the third position.
Vivo (Telefónica Group), the major operator in Brazilian market, 29,54% share and the second rated in mobile broadband closed the year with 71.5 million accesses, and was the champion carrier in mobile broadband customer acquisition, gaining 7.1 net additions of mobile broadband accesses and multiplying by two its mobile internet subscriber base. By the end of 2011 Vivo counted 34.94% of participation on mobile broadband market. In December 2011, Vivo had 20.08% of its subscriber base mobile broadband capable.
Claro (America Movil), the top carrier in Brazilian Mobile Broadband market, started the year in the second place of the whole market and was dropped by TIM, finishing 2011 in the third position, with 60.38 million subscribers and 24.93% market share.
During the year, Claro lost and recovered its market share on mobile broadband, but by the end of the year dropped a little bit and finished with 37.69%. Claro grew 80.66% or 6.92 million mobile broadband accesses in 2011, a little bit less than the market average. Among the big ones, Claro is the leader in mobile broadband proportion inside its subscriber base, with 25.67% in December 2011.
TIM, now the vice-leader in overall market share, with 26.46% participation and 64.08 million customers, had a very good reason to celebrate. Dropped Claro in the second position and gained 3.75 million mobile broadband subscribers, expanding its proportion to 14.76% of the overall market. But TIM decreased its market share in mobile broadband, passing from 25.30% to 23%.
Oi is the fourth “Big Four” with 45.48 million subscribers in December 2011 and 18.78% market participation. Oi soared its overall subscriber base by 15% and its mobile broadband customer base by 57.2% or 0.58 million accesses. No, it’s not fine. Mobile Broadband Market has grown 82.18%, consequently, Oi’s market share has shrank from 4.5% to 3.88%. Oi also has the worst percentage of mobile broadband capable accesses amongst its subscriber base: barely 3.5% in December 2011.
Small carriers had a very meaningful proliferation of their mobile internet capable subscribers.CTBC, a non-nationwide mobile carrier with 0.65 million subscribers boosted its mobile broadband subscriber base by almost 200%, granted the uppermost proportion of mobile broadband accesses within its clients base, 28.31%.
SERCOMTEL, a local mobile carrier with 0.077 million subscribers, like CTBC, had an expressive addition of mobile broadband subscribers and has grown 247.31%, from a mobile broadband percentage of 4.93% of its customer base to 17.49%.
Brazil and the Global Statistics for Mobile Broadband
Bearing in mind the Market shares of 3G accesses (HSPA +UMTS) from the 4G Americas (source: Informa Telcoms & Media, September 2011, WCIS), statistics are quite similar: 14% Global, 16.5% for Americas (for this comparison, the CDMA family was not taken into account) and 10.64% for Latin America and Caribbean, so Brazil is within the world average with 17% share of 3G accesses. Growth statistics also are equivalent from Brazil, with 82.18%, and from Latin America and Caribbean – 85% growth or 29.5 million of new mobile broadband subscribers form September 2010 to September 2011 for the region.
Maria Luiza Kunert is a Brazilian telecommunications executive with almost 20 years in the wireless market. Kunert, who has a degree in electronics engineering, has worked for network infrastructure vendors such as Ericsson and NEC and for service providers such as Vivo. Since 2009, she has worked as regulation adviser for Anatel, the Brazilian telecommunications government agency.
