SAO PAULO, Brazil-Two issues characterized the Brazilian cellular market during the first half of the year-an increase in subscriber numbers and the rollout of more advanced services.
Latin America in general saw an explosion of prepaid services, but in Brazil, prepaid subscriptions overcame all operator expectations. Prepaid services were first marketed in 1998, but this year, take-up has grown considerably, with prepaid user numbers overcoming postpaid users.
According to figures from Anatel, Brazil’s telecom regulator, of the country’s 18.5 million cellular users at the end of June, 9.3 million (50.32 percent) were prepaid subscribers. The numbers confirm an approximate average of 600,000 new prepaid subscribers each month during the first half of 2000. Of the total cellular count, 69 percent (12.8 million) were Band A subscribers, and 31 percent (5.7 million) were Band B subscribers.
The success of prepaid services is so large, operators are studying a means of providing prepaid customers the same services as traditional customers. By October, the Management Committee of Roaming-formed by Anatel and representing each of the country’s carriers-hopes to find a technical solution to allow compatibility among the prepaid platforms of different operators.
“All the companies want national roaming, and they are aware that a national solution is cheaper than each one running in search of individual” solutions, affirmed Haroldo Cruzeiro, director-executive of the committee.
According to Cruzeiro, three suppliers are studying alternatives, and in two months, the options will be presented to operators. The expectation is by mid-2001, users can count on prepaid roaming services.
WAP begins
At the same time subscriber numbers are increasing through prepaid, Brazilian operators are offering traditional users more sophisticated services. Many carriers in September or earlier began offering Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) services.
Tele Sudeste Celular, a Telef
