Brazil - Mobile Operators

Synopsis

Four companies dominate Brazil’s mobile telecom market: Spanish Telefónica’s Vivo, Mexican América Móvil’s Claro, Telecom Italia’s TIM Brasil, and Oi, controlled by Portugal Telecom and by the Brazilian Andrade Gutierrez group. Together, these four operators control 98% of the country’s mobile subscriber base. Vivo is the leader, with about 29% of the market. TIM Brasil and Claro account for 26% and 25% respectively; the two companies have been vying for second and third place since 2004. Oi is fourth, with 18%. The remaining 2% of the market is shared between CTBC Telecom, Sercomtel, and Nextel Brasil.

Having bought out Portugal Telecom’s half of mobile operator Vivo, Telefónica has undertaken a corporate restructure in Brazil. Vivo Participações has been incorporated into the group’s Brazilian fixed-line incumbent Telesp, and the merged company has been renamed Telefônica Brasil. The name Vivo has been retained as a trademark for mobile business.

This report profiles all of Brazil’s mobile operators, together with relevant statistical data and analyses.

Key developments:

TIM Brasil has overtaken Claro to become Brazil’s number two mobile operator; start-up mobile operator Unicel, trading as Aeiou, has disappeared from the market leaving around R$100 million in debts; Nextel is rolling out 3G services in the second half of 2012.

Companies covered in this report include:

Telefônica Brasil/Vivo, TIM Brasil, Claro, Oi, Nextel Brasil, Algar/CTBC Telecom, Sercomtel Celular, Unicel/Aeiou.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
• 2. Mobile operators in Brazil
  • 2.1 Overview
  • 2.2 Telefônica Brasil trading as Vivo
    • 2.2.1 Vivo company history
    • 2.2.2 Telemig - acquired by Vivo
    • 2.2.3 Telefónica and Telecom Italia – crossholding issues
    • 2.2.4 Telefónica buys out Portugal Telecom
  • 2.3 TIM Brasil
  • 2.4 Claro
  • 2.5 Oi
    • 2.5.1 Amazônia Celular – acquired by Oi
    • 2.5.2 Brasil Telecom – acquired by Oi
  • 2.6 Nextel Brasil
  • 2.7 Algar/CTBC Telecom
  • 2.8 Sercomtel Celular
  • 2.9 Unicel/Aeiou (defunct)
• 3. Related reports

• Table 1 – Mobile operators’ market share – 2002 - 2012
• Table 2 – Vivo – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2012
• Table 3 – Vivo/Telemig– mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2007 (historical)
• Table 4 – TIM Brasil – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2012
• Table 5 – Claro – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2012
• Table 6 – Oi – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2012
• Table 7 – Oi/Amazônia/BrT – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2008 (historical)
• Table 8 – Nextel – mobile subscribers – 2002 - 2012
• Table 9 – CTBC – mobile subscribers – 2003 - 2012
• Table 10 – Sercomtel – mobile subscribers – 2003 - 2012

• Chart 1 – Mobile market share at a glance – 2011

• Exhibit 1 – Subdivision of Brazil into regions and areas for mobile licensing
• Exhibit 2 – Telefônica Brasil at a glance
• Exhibit 3 – Vivo – concessions
• Exhibit 4 – The uneasy marriage between Telefónica and Portugal Telecom (historical)
• Exhibit 5 – TIM Brasil at a glance
• Exhibit 6 – TIM Brasil – concession awards for frequency bands A, B, D, E
• Exhibit 7 – Claro Brasil at a glance
• Exhibit 8 – Claro – concessions
• Exhibit 9 – Oi (TNL PCS) at a glance
• Exhibit 10 – Oi – concession awards for frequency bands A, D, E, M