Mobile broadband connections to reach 43.7 mn in Brazil by 2017

Cisco Brazil has said that the number of fixed and mobile broadband connections should rise beyond 43.7 million in 2017, excluding M2M, smartphone and cell phone browsing connections, according the latest edition of the Cisco Broadband Barometer 2.0.

This 54.2 percent growth between 2013 and 2017 will likely be driven by mobile data access as a result of consumers' expectations to watch major sporting events in their mobile devices.

In addition to the outlook for the next four years, the IDC survey in Latin America includes a detailed analysis of the Internet between January and June 2013, when Brazil reached 27.1 million connections, with the number of fixed line connections rising 4.5 percent and mobile connections increasing 8.7 percent, with 36.5 mobile for each 100 fixed line connections. By the end of 2013, Brazil is expected to have over 28.3 million connections.

"The current edition of the Cisco Broadband Barometer shows that the improving cost-efficiency of fixed line broadband has helped increase Internet connection speeds. What is referred to as fixed line Broadband 2.0, with speeds of 2 Mbps or more, grew 7 percent in the first semester, almost six times as fast as Broadband 1.0 (which has speeds ranging from 128 kbps to 2 Mbps). Broadband 2.0 represented 11.75 million broadband connections in June 2013, 43.2 percent of which 10 Mbps or more," the company mentioned in its report.

"Broadband penetration is an important variable for measuring a country's development. The major sports events arriving in 2014 and 2016 will drive investment in the telecoms industry, leaving behind an important legacy for Brazil", said Rodrigo Dienstmann, CEO of Cisco Brazil.

Of all 43.7 million (mobile and fixed line) connections in 2017, mobile will account for 36 percent, and Broadband 2.0 will represent 72 percent of fixed line connections.

The number of devices will rise by 26 million between 2013 and 2017. This is a 30 percent increase compared with the end of 2013. This will drive adoption of broadband (at all speeds), with the number of accesses rising by around 15 million. The rising number of devices per connection will encourage higher speed offerings.