Claro Brasil expands LTE coverage to 23 cities

Claro Brasil, the Brazilian carrier owned by Mexican telecoms giant America Movil (AM), has expanded the reach of its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network to a total of 23 cities across the country, with the launch of commercial services in Guarulhos, Sao Paulo state’s second largest city. The latest service expansion means that the cellco’s 4G service is now available in Sao Paulo, Campinas, Barueri, Campos do Jordao, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Salvador, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Buzios, Paraty, Cuiaba, Manaus, Natal, Belem, Contagem, Uberlandia, Sao Jose dos Campos, Osasco and now Guarulhos. AM’s local unit was the first Brazilian carrier to hit the ground running with 4G when it launched a commercial offer in August 2012 under the banner 4GMax. As at 30 September this year it had signed up 111,171 LTE users out of a total of 552,632 registered by Anatel at that date. The 4G segment leader is Telefonica Brazil (Vivo) with 223,345 subscriptions at the same date.