Brazil to nearly double 4G base in 2016

Brazil is will end the year with 42mn 4G LTE accesses, nearly doubling the 23mn reported at end-2015, says the GSM Association (GSMA).

4G LTE accesses were 9% of Brazil's 267mn mobile subscriptions by the end of December, according to GSMA research.

Brazilian telecom regulator Anatel has not yet released December numbers. The country had 20.4mn 4G lines in October. 4G Americas, in turn, reports Brazil has an 11.6% 4G LTE penetration.

GSMA estimates the country will grow its mobile base to 278mn subscribers in 2016, with 4G LTE penetration reaching 15% of total. 3G and 4G combined will be 233mn, up 16% from 2015.

In recent months, though, the Brazilian mobile market has been contracting, as prepaid users downsize to single SIM cards.

Mobile growth will be fueled by a 62% smartphone penetration, up from 55% last year, GSMA says.

Tech consultancy IDC predicts the local smartphone segment will fall 8% to 43.8mn units sold this year. In Q3, sales of smartphones in Brazil fell for the second quarter in a row, with some 10.7mn units sold.

GSMA, which includes 250 operators worldwide, also estimates that the Brazilian machine-to-machine (M2M) market will jump by 20.7% from 2015 and end the year with 14mn connections. In 2015, the segment grew 16.7%.