en.Wedoany.com Reported - According to the notification document submitted to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) regarding the merger of Claro and Desktop, the newly formed company will hold over 50% of the fixed broadband market share in 71 of the 645 cities in the state of São Paulo. This analysis is based on Multimedia Communication Service (SCM) access data reported to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) in December 2025.
The transaction involves Claro NXT Telecomunicações acquiring approximately 73.01% of Desktop's common shares. This São Paulo state service provider primarily operates fiber optic broadband internet services and has recorded SCM access in 198 cities within the state.
Claro has coverage or commercial presence in 181 cities in São Paulo. The two companies explained to Cade that the operator also has sporadic access in another 464 cities, but has not deployed its own infrastructure or engaged in direct commercial activities there. These accesses are related to corporate account contracts, whose service provision scope may extend beyond municipal boundaries.
For competitive analysis purposes, Claro and Desktop adopted the most conservative standard, considering all cities where both have fixed broadband access records as overlapping areas. Under this method, the transaction creates horizontal overlap in the SCM market of 198 cities in São Paulo.
Among the 198 overlapping cities, 81 are classified as markets eligible for a simplified procedure, due to their combined share being below 20%, or below 50% with an HHI change of less than 200 points.
The other 117 cities require analysis under the ordinary procedure. In 46 of these locations, the combined share will be below 50%, but market concentration will increase significantly. In another 71 cities, the combined share of Claro and Desktop will exceed 50% of the fixed broadband access market.
The ten cities with the highest concentration are all located in the interior of São Paulo state. In Nova Europa, the combined share will reach 96.12%. In Ibaté, this proportion is 95.57%. Other high-concentration cities include: Borebi at 93.21%; Gavião Peixoto at 92.70%; Igaratá at 91.07%; Santa Lúcia at 89.60%; Cristais Paulista at 87.18%; Motuca at 86.40%; Jaborandi at 84.71%; and Macatuba at 84.07%. According to a survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), these cities have a total population of approximately 105,000, with the largest, Ibaté, having 33,000 residents.
In the document submitted to Cade, Claro and Desktop argue that the transaction will not create or strengthen a dominant market position. The two companies contend that competition still exists between large operators and regional service providers, and that the local fixed broadband market remains contestable.
The companies also stated that due to the lack of complete access reports for small service providers in public databases, some market concentration indicators should be relativized. This could lead to an overestimation of the parties' shares in certain cities.
The final evaluation of the transaction will be conducted by Cade, which will analyze its impact on the fixed broadband market in São Paulo state. Additionally, the transaction has been submitted to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) due to the transfer of control of shares in an authorized telecommunications service company, and has already received Anatel's approval.
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