Brazil Government Ready to Ban Mobile Phone Sales Again If Necessary
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Brazil's government would support the telecommunications regulator if it chose to impose again a sales ban on mobile phone companies that don't improve network quality and customer service, Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said in an interview on Tuesday.

The regulator, Anatel, stopped three of Brazil's four mobile phone companies from selling new lines because of complaints about their customer service and calling quality. The companies had to turn in investment plans to deal with the problems, which were evaluated by Anatel before the regulator ended the sales ban.

TIM Participacoes SA (TSU, TIMP3.BR) was forced to stop selling contracts in 18 of Brazil's 27 states, Oi SA (OIBR, OIBR4.BR) had to stop selling contracts in five states and Claro, the local unit of Mexico's America Movil SA (AMX, AMX.MX), had to stop selling in three states for a total of 11 days.

Mobile phone use has been expanding rapidly in Brazil, with 19% growth in 2011 and 14% to 15% growth expected this year, Mr. Bernardo said.


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