Brazil sees a total of 6.76 million active 4G LTE customers in December 2014, an increase of more than 416.5 percent compared to 1.31 million a year before, according to Anatel, Brazil's telecommunications regulator. The requirement to roll out 4G in time for the 2014 World Cup host cities across Brazil last year has contributed to a boost in the number of new users of the high-speed technology. In May 2013, the four largest mobile operators in Brazil (Vivo, Claro, Oi, and TIM) launched their 4G commercial offerings across major cities, preparing for the 2014 Worldcup. At the same time, the upcoming Olympic Games in 2016 is driving more investments for the expansion of 4G networks.
Anatel indicated that Brazil ended with a total of 280.73 million active mobile lines, a 3.55% jump compared to December 2013. Anatel also reported that that 3G has finally surpassed GSM in Brazil and represents 51.5 percent of mobile phone users and 35.9 percent of mobile phones in Brazil. In terms of market share of major operators in the country, in December 2014, Vivo topped the list with close to 80 million subscribers, followed by TIM with 75.7 million, Claro with 71.1 million, and Hi with 50.9 million subscribers.
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