Brazil Mobile-Phone Subscriptions Rise in January

   By Rogerio Jelmayer 
 

SAO PAULO--Brazil's mobile-phone subscriptions rose in January despite the country's sluggish economy.

Total mobile-phone users in the country reached 281.7 million in January, up from 280.73 million in December.

Beneficiaries of the growth in mobile-phone subscriptions include Telefonica Brasil SA (VIV, VIVT4.BR), also known as Vivo, part of Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC), and TIM Participacoes S/A (TSU, TIMP3.BR).

Vivo posted a market share of 28.65% in January, up from 28.47% in December, while TIM was second with 26.90% in January, down from 26.97% at the end of 2014. TIM is the local unit of Telecom Italia SpA (TI, TIT.MI).

Claro, the local unit of Mexico's America Movil SAB de CV (AMX, AMOV, AMX.MX), came in third with a 25.34% share compared with 25.33% in the prior year. Local telecommunications company Oi SA (OIBR, OIBR4.BR) remained in fourth place with a 17.98% share, down from 18.14% in December.

The sector's smaller players Algar and Nextel ended the year with market shares of 0.43% and 0.57%, respectively, compared with 0.43% and 0.54% in December.

Write to Rogerio Jelmayer at [e-mail]

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