By Ron Coates, 7 June 2001 17:41
NEWS Brazil, South America's fastest growing market for mobiles, is cracking down on mobile phone use. Porto Alegre, Brazil's southern-most, and therefore coolest, major city, is imposing a fine of £142 on users whose phones ring at public events and in cinemas. However, the move seems primarily aimed at councilors who allow their mobiles to ring during meetings, which are specifically covered by the new law. Ben Wood, senior mobile analyst at Gartner, said: "Brazil is South America's richest market. There were around 4.3 million users last year, growing at 50 per cent a year. Over half of them are prepaid, which is adding to the boom." Mobiles are so popular in Brazil that when they became available in 1999, the first 150,000 mobiles were allocated by a public lottery. The network has been spreading from Brazil's most populous area, Sao Paulo, since then.
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