SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)-Brazilian telecommunications regulator
Anatel has ordered local phone companies to reduce tariffs by
10.78% starting from Feb. 24.
The price reduction will affect calls from fixed phones to
mobile phones and also calls between mobile phones, Anatel said
late Wednesday in a statement.
According to the regulator, the reduction will attract more
clients for operators and compensate for the reduction in
revenue.
Customers will pay 0.487 Brazilian reais per minute for phone
calls from fixed phone to mobile phone, down from BRL0.546
currently.
The regulator has also ordered a similar reduction from the
start of 2013 and 2014.
Brazil's largest phone operators are Tele Norte Leste
Participacoes SA (TNE), or Oi; Telecomunicacoes Brasil SA (VIV),
also known as Vivo, which is controlled by Spain's Telefonica SA
(TEF); TIM Participacoes SA (TSU), the local unit of Telecom Italia
SpA (TIT.MI) and Claro, the local unit of Mexico's America Movil
S.A.B. de C.V. (AMX.MX).
-By Rogerio Jelmayer, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-3544-7071;
rogerio.jelmayer@dowjones.com