Brazil Mobile Quality Report

Introduction

The Brazilian mobile market comprises several operators, of which three have their own networks with nation-wide coverage: Claro, TIM and Vivo. Thus, the network situation for these MNOs acts as a trustworthy barometer of the network situation in the country. A good knowledge of the network situation also allows the customers to perform fully informed decisions.

The objective of this report is to provide a summary of the network situation in Brazil for these three MNOs.

This report provides a quick overview of the network situation based on the following KPIs:

• Disconnection time: daily average minutes that the users from a MNO have had only emergency coverage or no coverage.
• 4G and 5G time: percentage of time that the users from a MNO have had 4G and, if available, 5G coverage (including 5G NSA and 5G SA).
• 5G penetration and usage: percentage of users that have 5G connectivity, percentage of time in 5G and percentage of active usage of 5G.
• Network status in the Common Coverage Area: an analysis of the network status, based on the signal strength and the signal quality, for the areas where all MNOs provide coverage.
• Call type: percentage of use of each call type by operator. This shows which technologies each of their customers primarily use.
• Mobile network latency: percentage of customers on different latency ranks. The ranks are selected according to several performance thresholds.

Summary

The Brazilian telecommunications market is controlled by three operators with their own networks and MVNOs that together hold 96.2% of the market: Claro, Vivo and TIM.

In this competition to increase its customer base, Vivo is the number 1 operator in Brazil with 38.6% of the market. Following closely are Claro with 33.9% of the market and TIM with 23.7%.

Each operator's network performance is very similar. However, there are some notable differences between them.

If we take into account the disconnection time, Claro is the operator that remains without coverage for the least amount of time compared to its competitors.

Regarding 5G, TIM is the operator with the highest percentage of 5G customers (15%).

On the other hand, TIM is the operator that presents the longest 5G coverage time for its 5G clients (68%), it is also the operator that has the longest time of use of 5G coverage (10%).

TIM is the operator that offers the best quality of 4G and 5G coverage, both in area and in measurements.

If we look at the types of calls, TIM is the operator in which users use VoLTE the most in their calls (86%).

Finally, regarding latency, in general terms, Claro has better latency than its competitors, with 80% of its measurements being rated as at least good latency.

The main key figures are the following:

• The three main operators (Claro, TIM, Vivo) in Brazil provide 4G or 5G coverage to their customers at least 83% of the time.
• 5G is not yet standardized in the country and the number of 5G users is very low. The MNO with the most 5G clients is TIM (15%), followed by Claro and Vivo tied with 12%.
• Regarding 5G coverage time for 5G clients, TIM is the best operador, providing 5G coverage 68% of the time but only active use 10% of the time.
• VoLTE calls are especially relevant for TIM, accounting for at least 86% of total calls.
• Claro is the operator that has the best latency for a decent experience in all possible types of use, with 80% of measurements rated as good or excellent.

Methodology

In the following pages an in-depth description of each analyzed KPI can be found, including the methodology and rationale behind them. At a more general level, the following paragraph describes the data collection methodology.

At a more general level, Weplan Analytics collects crowdsourced data from more than 200 million devices in 31 countries. For this analysis, 12,000 million measurements collected between April and June 2024 were used. The following map shows the density of measurements taken throughout Brazil by Weplan Analytics.

As the three aforementioned MNOs serve their networks to other parties (such as VMNOs, due to roaming agreements or as part of emergency coverage) they have been filtered by the network provider reported in the SIM card.

More details about the methodology can be found here.

Connectivity

Connectivity: Daily disconnection time

The following graphic shows the disconnection time as the average number of minutes that each customer of each MNO experiences disconnections throughout the day.

Disconnection time includes moments when a customer has no coverage at all (such as underground parkings, inside elevators, so far away from an antenna that connection is not possible...) or moments when a customer only has emergency coverage, that is, the ability to perform only emergency calls. This disconnected time may (and, in most cases, will) be discontinuous, and is the average of the daily disconnection time for all users.

Among Brazilian operators, Claro has the shortest daily disconnection time, with only 43 minutes of daily disconnections.

Connectivity: 4G and 5G time

As a result of the development of 5G technology, legacy technologies such as the 2G and 3G networks are being turned off with the aim of freeing up electromagnetic spectrum to make room for more modern technologies such as 4G and 5G. This is because the frequencies are limited, so it is necessary to turn off the old ones so that the new ones can occupy those frequencies. Thus, one of the main objectives of operators is to guarantee at least adequate 4G coverage, and for those that already meet this objective, the focus turns to 5G.

TIM has the best 4G or higher coverage time for its customers, maintaining this coverage 88% of the time.

5G penetration and usage

The arrival of 5G in Brazil took place with Claro and Vivo in July 2020. In this first phase, and before the auction of exclusive frequencies for 5G use, operators used 5G NSA sharing frequencies with previous technologies (which which is known as DSS). TIM, with the same strategy, began the deployment in September 2020.

After the expected auction of frequencies for 5G, in 2021, Claro, TIM and Vivo each acquired 100 Mhz in the 3.5 GHz frequency, the main one for the initial implementation of 5G. In addition, a bid was made for the 25 GHz band, with Claro and Vivo obtaining three 200 MHz blocks, and TIM a single 200 MHz block. This also opened the door to 5G SA. The city of Brasilia was the first to benefit from this technology, in July 2022.

Currently, the deployment of 5G continues at good speed, with 4.16 base stations per 30 thousand inhabitants; This far exceeds the objectives for 2024 (1.25 stations per 30 thousand inhabitants) and even the objectives for 2025.

The possibility of a customer to use the 5G network depends on several factors:

1. Their device must be 5G compatible.
2. The MNO must have a 5G network.
3. The client must contract a mobile plan that allows the 5G to be used, since not all MNOs offer full access to the 5G network as part of their regular plans.

The following charts show the percentage of users per MNO that have 5G access, and the percentage of time they are under 5G coverage. To establish whether a user is a 5G client or not, their 5G connectivity has been checked: if they have connected to the 5G network at least once, they are considered 5G clients.

Percentage of 5G users by carrier

The percentage of 5G clients in Brazil is still very low, with Tim being the one with the most 5G clients (15%), followed by Claro and Vivo tied with 12%.

Percentage of time spent under 5G coverage for 5G clients by carrier

If we look at the time in which each user has 5G coverage available, TIM is the winner with 68% of the time with 5G coverage available. It is followed by Vivo with 48% and Claro with 10%.

Percentage of 5G usage time for 5G users

When a user connects to the 5G network, they can do so under a Stand Alone (5G SA, pure 5G) or Non Stand Alone (5G NSA, 5G supported by the LTE network) connection.

When a user connects to the 5G NSA network, they can use only the LTE part (although they still see on their terminal that it is connected to 5G) or also the 5G part. Connecting in one way or another is mainly due to the use and capacity of the network, with the 5G network being prioritized for intensive data uses (e.g. streaming, video calls, video games, etc.) and leaving the 4G network for less intensive uses (e.g. messaging, low consumption web browsing, etc.).

The following graph shows the percentage of time that users are connected to a 5G network and are also using 5G technology.

If we emphasize the time that each user uses the available 5G, TIM users use the 5G network 10% of the time, followed by Claro with 8% and Vivo with 7%.

4G and 5G network status

There are two main network performance indicators used to address the network status: signal strength and signal quality. Each technology has its own measurements, but two great categories can be established:

• Very Good: the network performance for all usages should be excellent.
• Good: the network performance for all usages may present occasional difficulties but is good overall.
• Fair: most network network-dependent usages (such as calls or data usage) will have at least a decent performance.
• Degraded: network usage may be unstable and unreliable but allows for basic usage such as calls with acceptable quality and very slow data transfer rate.
• Very Degraded: apart from emergency calls network usage is nearly impossible.

There are two ways to analyze these categories: by percentage of covered area or by percentage of measurements.

Most measurements take place in urban areas, where coverage is better.

However, it is important to note that in most countries the majority of the territory is not urban, so the percentage of area with a problematic network situation may be different from the percentage of measurements with a problematic network situation.

In general, all operators offer decent coverage in the common coverage area in Brazil.

TIM is the operator with the best results with 71% of the area rated as at least fair. Following are VIVO with 69%, and Claro with 63%.

If you look at measurements instead of area, the general situation is very similar.

TIM is the operators with the best results with 75% of the measurements are classified as, at least, fair. They are followed by Vivo with 70% and Claro with 63%.

Call type percentage

Although 2G and 3G technologies allow the use of data, the development of 4G and 5G has left these technologies largely relegated to use in phone calls.

However, not all customers can benefit from VoLTE calls, since in order for them to be used, the following conditions must be met:

1. Your MNO must provide 4G and VoLTE.
2. They must have a phone capable of making VoLTE calls and a mobile plan that includes VoLTE.
3. Your phone must be approved by the MNO and the manufacturer to make VoLTE calls.

The last condition means that a customer, without changing their phone, can have VoLTE with one operator, but not have it with another. When a 4G connected customer without VoLTE capability (for any reason) attempts to make a call, a handover process to the 2G or 3G network occurs.

This process, depending on the method applied, is called CSFB (the most common) or SRVCC. In addition, there is also VoWiFi (Voice over Wi-Fi) technology, which is used when a Wi-Fi network is available.

VoLTE technology is the most used by TIM customers, with at least 86% of calls using this technology. It is followed by Vivo with 75% and Claro with 53%.

Latency status

Latency is the measurement of how much time it takes for the information to be transmitted between the user and the network. A lower latency means a faster, and smoother network experience, whereas a higher latency means that the network experience will not be as good, or even unusable. This makes latency a good indicator for user experience. We have divided latency in four main groups:

• Excellent latency: very smooth user experience, even with the most data-intensive usage, such as gaming or 4K streaming.
• Good latency: good user experience, although gaming may not be as fluid and 4K may present occasional problems.
• Degraded latency: mediocre user experience. Gaming and 4K are either uncomfortable or impossible, videochat may present noticeable lag, messaging with multimedia may take a long time to load and loading a web may be slow.
• Bad latency: essentially unusable network. Only the lightest usage, such as sending messages without multimedia works decently.

There are hardly any differences in latency between operators.

Claro presents the best results with 80% of their measurements rated as good or excellent. It is followed by TIM with 78% and Vivo with 75% of measurements rated as good or excellent.