Vivo Participacoes, the Brazilian fixed and mobile group controlled by Telefonica of Spain, has improved the reach of its 3G mobile network in the country, with the announcement that its signal is now available in 3,000 municipalities, BNAmericas reports. Vivo leads the way when it comes to deploying 3G in the Latin American country, and according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database at August this year claimed coverage of 2,852 municipalities, putting it well ahead of the second-placed operator – Telecoms America (Claro) – with 959, and TIM Brasil’s 554. The other main players also trail by some margin, with Oi SA claiming coverage of 346 municipalities at that date, Algar Telecom (formerly CTBC Celular) with 32 and regional operator Sercomtel Celular with just two.
Vivo is also keen to expand its 4G capabilities and last month announced it is looking to launch Long Term Evolution (LTE) services in April 2013. In outlining the group’s plans to upgrade its 3G and HSPA networks, Vivo’s Paulo Cesar Teixeira told delegates at the Business Innovation Forum 2012, in Brazil: ‘We will have four cities in April next year and then another six nearby cities.’ The CEO confirmed that the target cities are those slated to host World Cup games in 2014. Vivo’s LTE service will be branded ‘4G Plus,’ a natural evolution from its existing ‘3G Plus’ service.