Brazil Mobile Phone Ownership Reaches 87.5 Million In January

SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian mobile-phone ownership reached 87.5 million at the end of January, up 31% on the year and 1.3 million from the end of December, according to preliminary figures released by telecommunications regulator Anatel on Tuesday.

Mobile-phone adds inevitably slumped from the 3.96 million registered in December, traditionally the busiest month of the year because of Christmas. The figures reinforce analyst predictions that market growth would slow as operators start concentrating on improving margins.

Currently, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest mobile-phone market in terms of number of handsets, behind China, the U.S., Japan and Russia.

-By Alastair Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; 5511-3145-1479; brazil@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 15th February 2006