In this new analysis, Opensignal is looking at the mobile network experience of our smartphone users in Brazil, to uncover what proportion struggle with subpar mobile network experience, both nationally and across different states. We performed this analysis for three key metrics — Download Speed Experience, Time with no signal, and Video Experience. Around one in five Brazilian users have an average download speed below 10Mbps or a Poor Video Experience.
Brazil has made enormous progress with its 5G standalone access roll-outs in the 3.5GHz band since July 2022. 5G users in Brazil’s state capitals enjoy average 5G download speeds exceeding 250Mbps and this market is one of the regional and global leaders for 5G Download Speed. However, 5G connectivity is not yet ubiquitous in Brazil and its 5G Availability score is much lower than in the case of some other markets in the LATAM region.
A lot of Brazilian smartphone users have limited access to 5G networks or 5G devices and so, they struggle with much slower overall mobile download speeds. 20.7% of Brazilian users have average overall download speeds below 10Mbps, which makes their ability to browse the Internet on their devices a lot more challenging. Despite the 5G roll-outs, only 0.6% of Brazil’s smartphone users enjoy average overall download speeds clocking in at more than 100Mbps.
There are also major disparities between our smartphone users in Brazil’s experience when streaming on-demand video. 18.2% of users have a Poor (below 48) Video Experience. This means that they, on average, encounter very high loading times or high levels of stalling or are only able to stream on-demand video at resolutions below 720p — which hampers their ability to effectively use video services for work, education, or entertainment. Only 6.8% of Brazilian users have an Excellent (78 or above) experience when using video streaming services on average — meaning, they are able to stream video at 1080p or better with fast loading times and no stalling.
We also looked at Time with no signal, to determine the proportion of Brazilian users who struggle to connect to mobile services. While three-quarters of Brazilian smartphone users observe time with no signal less than 1%, 11.4% of Brazilians remain with no signal for 5% or more of the time. 7.3% of smartphone users in Brazil have even bigger issues with connecting to mobile services, as they spend 10% or more Time with no signal — more than three times the average time with no signal for Brazil, of 2.9%.
There are substantial differences between Brazil’s states when it comes to the proportion of users with a subpar Download Speed Experience. Only 12.4% of our users in Acre struggle with average overall download speeds below 10Mbps, ahead of Distrito Federal with 14.8% of users below this threshold. Roraima, Minas Gerais, and Amazonas are among the states with the highest percentage of users with average download speeds below 10Mbps — 29%, 27.2%, and 26% respectively. Distrito Federal observes the highest proportion of smartphone users with average download speeds of 100Mbps or higher — 3.3%, while in multiple states, this segment is as low as 0.1% of smartphone users.
Looking at differences between operators, Vivo has the highest proportion of users with Download Speed Experience below 10Mbps — 21.9% — followed by TIM (20.9%) and Claro (17.6%). Claro sees the highest percentage of users with average download speeds exceeding 50Mbps — but it is TIM that has the highest percentage of our users with Download Speed Experience clocking in at more than 100Mbps — 0.9%. We have previously shown that those users who switched mobile networks in Brazil generally experienced lower average download speeds before they switched than the average for all users on their network — so logically, users in the lowest speed segment of 0-10Mbps are at the most risk of switching to another operator.
Distrito Federal has the lowest proportion of smartphone users with a Poor (below 48) Video Experience across all Brazilian territories — 13.7% — followed by Goiás (15.7%) and São Paulo (16%). By contrast, 26% of smartphone users in the northernmost state of Roraima have the lowest-rated video streaming experience, ahead of 23.8% of smartphone users in Tocantins. 9.5% of smartphone users in Distrito Federal and 9.4% in Mato Grosso enjoy mobile video streaming services rated as Excellent (78 or above). Meanwhile, only 2.6% of users in Amazonas and 2.9% of users in Amapá place in the Excellent category for Video Experience, on average.
Around one in five of our Claro and Vivo smartphone users have a Poor (below 48) experience when using video streaming services over cellular connections, compared to 13.4% of TIM users. More than half of smartphone users on TIM’s network enjoy a Very Good (68-78) or Excellent (78 or above) Video Experience, compared to 42.4% of their Claro peers and 43.8% of their Vivo counterparts. Out of Brazil’s three national operators, TIM has the highest percentage of users who enjoy Excellent video streaming services — 7.5%.
Less than 10% of smartphone users in Distrito Federal, Sergipe, and São Paulo see time with no signal of 5% or more. Only 4.9% of smartphone users in Distrito Federal face the challenge more than 10% of the time with no signal. In seven Brazilian states, more than 15% of users observe time with no signal of 5% or greater, like Mato Grosso (18.9%), or Tocantins (17.9%). Mato Grosso and Piauí have the highest proportions of smartphone users with time with no signal of 10% or higher — 12.9% and 12.2% of users, respectively.
Looking at Brazil’s national operators, 8.3% of our TIM smartphone users spend 5% or more of the time with no signal — compared to 11.7% of Claro and 13.2% of Vivo’s users. Nearly 80% of TIM users spend less than 1% of the time with no signal — which is not a surprise, given that TIM won the Availability award in the latest Brazil Mobile Network Experience report.
Opensignal has previously analyzed user segments by the quality of mobile network experience in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and New Zealand. Segmentation analysis is key to understanding the scale of smartphone users who suffer from mediocre network experience — either nationally, regionally, or even locally. These users are either likely to move to another operator or won’t be able to fully access more demanding services offered by mobile operators — which would result in a revenue loss for mobile operators. A large number of users struggling with subpar mobile network services is also a call for action for governments and regulators — as reliable mobile connectivity helps drive economic growth and development.
Opensignal Limited retains ownership of this insight including all intellectual property rights, data, content, graphs & analysis. Reports and insights produced by Opensignal Limited may not be quoted, reproduced, distributed, published for any commercial purpose (including use in advertisements or other promotional content) without prior written consent. Journalists are encouraged to quote information included in Opensignal reports and insights provided they include clear source attribution. For more information, contact [email protected].