Mobile Data, Prepaid Mobile Drive Unprecedented Growth in Brazil, Pyramid Finds

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile data revenue will almost triple from $6.9 billion at the end of 2010 to $19 billion by 2015, thanks to a rapid adoption of mobile broadband and mobile browsing services, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com).

Brazil: Mobile Data and Prepaid Mobile Drive Unprecedented Telecom Revenue Growth by 2015 offers a precise profile of the country's telecommunications, media and technology sectors based on proprietary data from Pyramid's research in the market. It provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies.

Download an excerpt of this report here: http://www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=18&sc=PRN040511_CIRBRA

Purchase the report here: http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/CIRBRAZIL.htm?sc=PRN040511_CIRBRA

"The Brazilian mobile market has boomed in the past few years, supported by the entry of the operator Oi in the largest market in the country and by new services such as pay-per-time mobile data," says Vinicius Caetano, Senior Analyst at Pyramid. "The demand for broadband, especially mobile broadband, is increasing at a very high rate. However, this demand comes not only from the current broadband subscribers wanting mobility but also from social classes and off-centered regions that didn't have access to a broadband connection until recently," he notes. "Operators can benefit from this new market by offering low-speed/low-cost connections embedded in subsidized netbooks or laptops," says Caetano.

The prepaid mobile market, addressed to medium- and low-income social classes, is expected to grow rapidly, as well. "Since prepaid rates in the country are considered expensive by the population, a new driver for new subscriptions and therefore penetration has formed: people with multiple mobile subscriptions (multiple SIM cards)," he says. "Many subscribers are willing to only make intra-network calls and therefore have two or three cell phone lines from different operators. That makes user penetration 83 percent, 22 percentage points less than total mobile penetration," indicates Caetano.

"Despite finally surpassing the 100 percent mark in 2010, the mobile penetration rate in the country is still low when compared with other countries in the region, such as Argentina, where it surpasses 130 percent," says Caetano. "However, regulation forcing mobile operators to deploy 3G services throughout the country in the next four years will increase the number of mobile users, many of them using more data," he adds. "Pyramid expects higher ARPS to come with new subscriptions, mostly driven by data users. Prepaid mobile data, a service that today is scarce in the country, is expected to move the industry, reshaping the market for mobile operators," he notes.

Brazil: Mobile Data and Prepaid Mobile Drive Unprecedented Telecom Revenue Growth by 2015 is part of Pyramid Research's Latin America Country Intelligence Report Series and is priced at $990. Download the excerpt here: http://www.pyr.com/downloads.htm?id=18&sc=PRN040511_CIRBRA.  It can be purchased online here (http://www.pyramidresearch.com/store/CIRBRAZIL.htm?sc=PRN040511_CIRBRA ) or by emailing us at [email protected].

Announcing a new Pyramid Event: Making Money on Mobile Broadband! Are you ready for the deployment of next-generation mobile networks in Brazil? Do you have the business strategies in place to secure higher data traffic and thus increasing higher revenues? Making Money on Mobile Broadband is the only event of its kind in the region that will bring the expertise and practical advice from Pyramid Analysts, discussing how telecom operators can bring value beyond 3G and 4G connectivity access. Learn more here: http://mobilebroadbandsummit.com.br/!

Contact:
Jennifer Baker
+1-617-871-1910
[email protected]

SOURCE Pyramid Research