Prepaid phone calls in Brazil are the most expensive in all of Latin America

Brazilians spend about US$ 44.8 per month, according to a new study.
In Honduras, number two on the list, calls cost about US$ 25.2 per month.

Brazilians pay more for prepaid cell phone calls than any other country in Latin America, according to a survey conducted in 20 counries.

The study commissioned by the Latin American Regional Dialogue on Information Society (Dirsi in Portuguese), a research network specialized in the telecommunications industry, and developed by economist Hernan Galperin, from the University of San Andrés in Buenos Aires, indicates that prepaid mobile phone users in Brazil spent on average US$ 45 (R$ 80) in the second quarter of last year. The total cost is well above that paid in the second country on the list, Honduras, where consumers spent US$ 25.69 (R$ 45) per month.

The calculations were based on a theoretical average suggested by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which includes 30 varied two minute calls (local and long distance) and 33 text messages per month. In Paraguay, this package costs about US$ 6 (under R$ 11).

According to Dirsi the average of all 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed is US$ 24 (R$ 42.50), almost double the cost in OECD countries (which include the United States and European nations), recorded at US$ 13 ( R$ 23), and more than triple the market average in South Asia, where mobile service cost US$ 7 (R$ 12) per month.

In addition, the study compares calling rates against population income in order to establish the accessibility of the service. The service is considered accessible when users spend less than 5% of their income to purchase it. Research results show that with the exception of Costa Rica, the cost of service in Latin America surpasses the payment capacity of users.

The countries studied include Brazil, Honduras, Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Chile, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Costa Rica and Jamaica.

Fonte G1