Data Glance: Prepaid disconnections reduce Brazil mobile base

Disconnections of prepaid lines brought the total of mobile lines in Brazil down in 2017.

According to regulator Anatel, there were 236.4mn active mobile connections in the country by the end of December, following a reduction of 7.57mn during the year. Compared to the month before, the decrease was 2.60mn accesses (-1.09%).

Of total mobile lines, 148.5mn were prepaid and 87.9mn postpaid. Throughout the year, prepaid lost 16.1mn (-9.83%) accesses, while postpaid gained 8.61mn (+10.85%).

This development follows 2017 patterns and is in line with the trend of disconnecting multiple SIM cards owned by the same user, which is driven by the decline in carrier-to-carrier (off-net calls) charges.

Compared to November 2017, prepaid mobile lines dropped by 3.58mn (-2.36%) and postpaid grew by 979,606 (+ 1.13%).

In terms of competition, the scenario at the end of 2017 was: Vivo led with 74.9mn clients, followed by Claro (59mn), TIM (58.6mn) and Oi (38.9mn).

Throughout 2017, MVNOs Datora and Porto Seguro Conecta, as well as carriers Nextel and Vivo, added clients, while Algar, Oi, Sercomtel, Claro and TIM all saw their base shrink.