Brasília – The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) announced today (18th) that Brazil has surpassed the mark of one mobile phone per inhabitant, a rate higher than those of countries such as France, the United States and Japan.
According to the chairman of the agency, Ronaldo Sardenberg, the fact was ascertained upon cross-referencing data pertaining to mobile lines activated up until October 31st – 194,439,250 telephones – with the approximated figure of 193.595 million inhabitants, supplied by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
"The growth of mobile telephony services represents safety, comfort, access to information, job creation and ease of making e-payments," said Sardenberg.
As a result, the country now ranks eighth on the list of countries with the highest rates of mobile phones per inhabitant in the world. The top-ranking countries are as follows: Russia, with 1.62 mobile per inhabitant; Italy (1.43); Vietnam (1.38); Germany (1.37); the United Kingdom (1.33); Spain (1.21); and Thailand (1.07). The Brazilian average is 1.004, slightly higher than those of France, the United States and Japan.
According to Sardenberg, the Anatel works for the quality to keep up with the increasing number of lines. "Prices are lowered through quality and competition," he stated.
Another announcement made today was that of the establishment of the Virtual Operator service. It should enable banks and retail chains to enter the mobile telephony market and, according to the regulating agency, it should drive up competition in the industry and its expansion into markets not yet reached.
The Brazilian states with the highest rates of mobile phones per inhabitant are: the Federal District (1.7), São Paulo (1.17), Mato Grosso do Sul (1.14), Rio de Janeiro (1.11) and Rio Grande do Sul (1.08). Maranhão (0.56), Piauí (0.74), Pará (0.75) and Bahia (0.79) have the lowest rates.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
