GSMA noted that 5G networks will cover 84% of the country’s population by 2030
5G subscribers in Brazil are forecast to reach 179 million by 2030, up compared to 36.2 million in 2025, according to a recent report by telecom association GSMA.
The report showed that 5G penetration by 2025 is expected to reach 16% while it would expand to 77% by 2030.
“5G commercial services arrived in Brazil in July 2020, with operators using DSS technology. Services have subsequently evolved following the November 2021 spectrum auction. For example, Claro, TIM and Vivo have deployed 5G SA using 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum, delivering a significant performance improvement on previous networks,” GSMA said.
As of January 2023, 140 towns and cities had been approved to proceed with 3.5 GHz launches, equivalent to 38.5% of the population, according to Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel.
GSMA also noted that 5G networks will cover 84% of the country’s population by 2030, up from 47% in 2025.
“The growing coverage of 5G networks in Brazil should drive take-up of the service, which accounted for around 3% of connections at the end of 2022. 5G adoption will also be supported by the increased availability of 5G smartphones. For example, TIM claimed in September 2022 that 75% of devices on sale in its stores were 5G-ready,” GSMA added.
The association also noted that Brazilian operators are also exploring options to deploy 5G Fixed Wireless Access solutions. Over the next four years, 5G FWA connections are expected to grow by around 190% per year in Brazil and the GSMA estimates that the total number of 5G FWA connections in Brazil will exceed 1 million by 2025.
The report highlighted that gaming represents another important consumer 5G use case in Brazil.To capture this opportunity, local carrier TIM Brasil has launched its own cloud gaming proposition. Meanwhile, Claro Brasil, Ericsson and Niantic have conducted trials of AR gaming over 5G SA networks.
“5G also brings new opportunities in the enterprise segment, as highlighted by growing demand for customized private 5G networks in Brazil. In September 2022, Nestlé announced it had commissioned Claro and Embratel to build a private 5G network at its factory in Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, state-owned petroleum company Petrobras plans to have 5G connectivity in 29 production platforms by 2024, building on its existing 4G private network deployments,” the GSMA report stated.
5G is forecast to reach 57% of the total mobile connections in Latin America in 2030, up from a current penetration of around 2%, according to GSMA.
The GSMA report stated that the region will see a 5G penetration of 11% by 2025. By that point, 5G will have a double-digit share of total connections in five countries in the region: Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina.
As of March 2023, eight countries in Latin America had launched commercial 5G services. According to the report, 5G offered via different technologies are already available in parts of Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru, Guatemala and Uruguay.
