Spotlight: Brazil's fiber and 5G expand, but digital divide persists

The number of fiber optics deployments and accesses continues to grow in Brazil, while penetration remains unequal, and over 1,000 locations still lack the technology.

The country had 348mn telecom accesses at end-May, of which over 266mn were mobile, 52.7mn fixed broadband, 21.7mn fixed telephony and 7.9mn pay-TV, according to the latest data from regulator Anatel.

Around 41mn accesses were made through broadband fiber, or 77.8% of the total.

On the other hand, over 1,200 municipalities, or 21.5% of the total, lacked fiber backhaul, according to Anatel's latest structural plan for telecom networks (Pert), with data from end-2024. 

Most underserved localities are in the north and northeast of the country, in addition to the north of Minas Gerais state. Backhaul is the middle section network connecting the fiber backbone routes to accesses of networks at customer premises.

The Pert outlines nationwide connectivity gaps with the goal of supporting public policies to expand access.  

The current plan prioritizes the expansion of fixed broadband access and network infrastructure, in addition to promoting the deployment of towers and sites for mobile telephony. 

In the document, Anatel also emphasized the importance of satellites for connectivity, considering them essential and strategic for digital inclusion policies.

Accesses

In terms of accesses, fiber-to-the-home grew by 7.2% year-on-year in January-May, with the north and northeast seeing the greatest jumps in FTTH users, at 11.8% and 10.4%, respectively.

The fiber broadband market is led by Vivo with 18.9%, followed by Oi (NIO) with 9.6%, Claro 5.4%, Giga Mais Fibra (Alloha) 4.3%, Brisanet 3.8%, Vero 3.6%, Desktop 3%, Brasil TecPar 2.3%, Algar, 2.0%, Unifique 2.1%, Alares 2%, TIM 2% and Ligga 0.8%.

Brasil TecPar led the monthly growth, with a 19.5% expansion in the client base, followed by Claro with 1.8% and Vivo with 1.0%.

Brisanet, Desktop and Unifique also grew, but Oi and Alloha lost clients and Vero was flat.

Mobile and 5G 

The Pert plan shows that 7,923 communities still lacked access to 4G or better technology.

According to the regulator's database, 4G declined to a 68.7% market share in terms of technology in May, with 5G growing to 17.7% of all mobile accesses. The remainder was via the declining 2G and 3G technologies.

Vivo led the mobile segment with a 38.5% market share. Claro had 33.3% and TIM 23.4%. In 5G alone, Vivo led with 40.7%. 

Overall, Brazil's mobile base declined 2.2% year-on-year in May, but grew 0.4% in the month.

Among the largest players, Claro grew 0.5% on a monthly basis, TIM 0.4% and Vivo 0.1%.