Brazil‘s telecommunication regulator Anatel, is lifting the ban on new sales that it imposed last month on three carriers whose service was found to be unacceptable. The agency says it will keep a close eye on service quality, and that fines or a new suspension could result if quality does not improve.
The three companies involved are TIM, the Brazilian unit of Telecom Italia; América Móvil’s Claro; and the national carrier Oi. Together, the three account for around 70% of the Brazilian mobile phone market. According to Anatel’s latest numbers, Vivo still leads the market with a 29.6% market share and more than 75.7 million mobile lines. TIM is second with just under 68.9 million mobile lines, followed by Claro with nearly 63 million mobile lines and Oi with more than 47.7 million mobile lines.
Anatel identified the “worst” wireless carriers in each state and prohibited them from selling new lines there. TIM was not allowed to sell in 19 states, including Rio de Janeiro; Oi was suspended in five states and Claro in three states, including the most populous state, Sao Paulo. The agency says that it has now received a plan of action for improvement from each of the carriers.
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