Feeling bullish on the future of mobile in Brazil

I am excited by the future of all things in mobile in Brazil. First, we saw the government urging mobile companies to give free phones to those who couldn’t afford them, presenting it as part of a more ambitious plan by the government to guarantee access to telecommunications to all Brazilians. Now we hear the ...

I am excited by the future of all things in mobile in Brazil. First, we saw the government urging mobile companies to give free phones to those who couldn't afford them, presenting it as part of a more ambitious plan by the government to guarantee access to telecommunications to all Brazilians.

I am excited by the future of all things in mobile in Brazil. First, we saw the government urging mobile companies to give free phones to those who couldn’t afford them, presenting it as part of a more ambitious plan by the government to guarantee access to telecommunications to all Brazilians.

Now we hear the head of the Brazilian unit of America Movil – a company controlled by the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim – predicting that Brazil will have as many mobile phones as people by the end of 2010 (this, of course, won’t mean that every Brazilian will have a mobile phone, as some people carry several devices at the same time). Nevertheless, it’s been an exciting decade for mobile communications in Brazil, with wireless lines growing more than 10-fold.

Evgeny Morozov is a fellow at the Open Society Institute and sits on the board of OSI's Information Program. He writes the Net Effect blog on ForeignPolicy.com

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