Brazil - Fixed-Line Infrastructure - Overview, Statistics and Market Forecasts

Synopsis

The Brazilian fixed-line market has been adversely affected by fixed-to-mobile substitution. Teledensity is 22%, about two percentage points higher than average for South America, but less than half the rates found in North America, Australia, or Western Europe. Although the number of fixed lines in Brazil continues to grow slightly, teledensity has only gone up by one percentage point in six years.

VoIP services in Brazil are not regulated by Anatel and are offered by many service providers, including US firms. The main Brazilian VoIP companies are Net Serviços and GVT.

Brazil is connected through submarine cables to the USA, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, but it has no direct link with other continents, and insufficient bandwidth has pushed up broadband prices. To meet this shortcoming, the Brazilian government has entrusted state-owned Telebrás with the construction of a new submarine cable network – the Atlantic Cable System (ACSea) – linking Brazil with the USA, Europe, Africa, and several Latin American countries.

Because of remoteness issues, satellite communications have retained an important role in Brazil. The Amazon jungles of the north make satellites the major communication facility, as it is almost impossible to lay fibre optic cable in the thick vegetation.

This report provides an overview of Brazil’s telecom infrastructure, accompanied by relevant statistics, analyses, and fixed-line scenario forecasts for the years 2015 and 2020.

Key developments:

The ACSea submarine cable will increase bandwidth and reduce broadband prices for all of Latin America; Spanish firm IslaLink has been chosen to build the ACSea section linking Brazil and Europe; Hispasat has launched Amazonas-3 to transport high-capacity telecom data ; the Brazilian government aims to launch a satellite by mid-2014, in time for the FIFA World Cup.

Companies covered in this report include:

Vivo (TelefônicaBrasil), TIM Brasil, Oi, Embratel, Net Serviços, GVT, CTBC, Global Crossing, Star One, TelesatBrasil, Hispamar.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Telecommunications infrastructure
  • 2.1 National telecom network
    • 2.1.1 Fixed-line statistics
    • 2.1.2 Public payphones
  • 2.2 International infrastructure
    • 2.2.1 Submarine cable networks
    • 2.2.2 Satellite networks
  • 2.3 Infrastructure developments
    • 2.3.1 IP and voice over internetprotocol (VoIP)
    • 2.3.2 Very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks
• 3. Wholesale
• 4. Forecasts – fixed-line market 2015; 2020
  • 4.1 Scenario 1 – higher fixed line growth
  • 4.2 Scenario 2 – lower fixed-line growth
  • 4.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
• 5. Related reports

• Table 1 – Fixed lines in service and teledensity – 1995 - 2013
• Table 2 – Public payphones – 1996 - 2013
• Table 3 – Vivo– wholesale accesses – 2005 - 2012
• Table 4 – Forecast fixed lines – higher growth scenario – 2015; 2020
• Table 5 – Forecast fixed lines – lower growth scenario – 2015; 2020

• Chart 1 – Evolution of fixed lines in service – 1996 - 2013

• Exhibit 1 – Regions and States of Brazil
• Exhibit 2 – Atlantic Cable System – planned
• Exhibit 3 – Geostationary satellites operating in Brazil – 2013

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