Brazilian mobile firms continue to struggle with data access

A report published by Brazilian national telecoms body Anatel outlined the review results of a $30bi ($17.5bi) action plan for the improvement of personal mobile services and showed firms are still failing in the mobile internet access front.

Access to the data network was pinpointed as the biggest challenge of the mobile phone firms, since performance was 3% below the goals set by Anatel.   

According to the report, there have been areas of improvement such as reductions in the overall number of dropped calls and connections. But that is not good enough, especially given that Brazil has almost 150 million mobile phone users, of which about 72 million utilize data services.

The inability of Brazilian mobile to reach an acceptable level of mobile data services charged at a premium is not only infuriating for users, but also reinforces the many uncertainties surrounding the recent launch of 4G services in the country.

Meanwhile, the telecoms authority watches the issue continue to snowball: Anatel's president João Resende was recently quoted by Brazilian newspaper Estado de São Paulo as saying that it would be "anti-economic" to not invest in fourth-generation technology - and offer it to end consumers.

When asked what consumers should be doing in case the services doesn't work, Resende said  the best option would be to "clog up" customer service reps at mobile operators with complaints. Now that's a job I wouldn't fancy doing...