Companies are seeing the change as a way to optimize profits and invest further in network capacity.
If you use your cell phone frequently to access music, TV shows, movies, websites, social networks, and other apps, you probably know that a good data plan is important, right? And with that in mind, carriers are trying to offer pre- and post-paid plans with some advantages, to attract more customers to sign up for their plans. However, the main carriers in the country — Claro, Vivo, and Tim — want to eliminate one of these advantages, and this could end up displeasing customers, who have been using the benefit for years and will have to pay more to have more data. Find out all the details about this subject now, and how this change could affect your data usage.
Benefit
Known as “zero rating”, the offer of access to WhatsApp, YouTube, audio and video platforms and more, without using the mobile data allowance, which has attracted many customers over the years, may soon end, as the country's main operators are reevaluating this availability, as apparently, the action has not brought great financial advantages to the operators.
Data consumption has grown significantly with 4G, and the trend is for an even greater increase as the 5G has been expanding throughout the country. Therefore, companies are looking for ways to optimize profits and invest in network capacity, in addition to working on expanding the 5G infrastructure, which arrived in Brazil a year ago and serves around 184 cities, with more than 10 million users.
Another factor that could also contribute to the change in plans is the discussion regarding payment for network usage by big techs, as the services provided by companies such as Google, Google, Netflix and Amazon are among those that use the most mobile data.
Offer is seen as a mistake
During his participation in the Telebrasil Innovation Panel, an event that brought together executives from the technology sector last month, José Felix, the president of the Claro Brasil group, stated that the zero rating was “a mistake”. However, according to him, there is still time to review the company’s strategy, which offers unlimited use of WhatsApp, Instagram, Waze, Facebook and TikTok in some plans.
In the case of Vivo, which provides the WhatsApp and some Waze options, without deducting from the allowance in pre- and post-paid plans, the cut in the offer is still under analysis and will be carried out gradually. According to the company's vice president of business, Alex Salgado, it is necessary to increase revenue to compensate for the investments made in the network.
Tim, which offers WhatsApp and Deezer without data consumption in prepaid plans and includes Instagram and other services in postpaid options, is also evaluating the option of ending the benefit. The operator said it is also looking to increase revenue to ensure more investment in mobile networks.
