The neighborhood of Copacabana is no stranger to large crowds. Situated at the south of Rio de Janeiro, the neighborhood is famous for its iconic beach and its annual New Year’s Eve celebrations. Last year, Madonna’s free concert drew in crowds of more than 1.6 million people, packing the beach and surrounding streets. With Lady Gaga’s upcoming performance on May 3rd likely to bring in similar numbers, the area will once again be brimming with fans and partygoers.
Fortunately, Brazil’s major operators — Claro, Vivo, and TIM — are well-versed in managing high-traffic events and are well equipped to handle the expected surge in network demand. In this report, we look at the mobile experience they provide in the Copacabana neighborhood ahead of Lady Gaga’s show. We also compare the experience in Copacabana to the city-level experience in Rio de Janeiro and that seen across Brazil, showing that users typically enjoy a better mobile experience in this famous beachside hotspot.
Key findings:
- TIM has the most consistent quality of experience in Copacabana. TIM scores highest for Consistent Quality in the Brazilian neighborhood, achieving an impressive 75.9%.
- Ahead of Lady Gaga’s concert, Vivo’s network demonstrates the fastest average download speeds. Vivo is the outright leader for Download Speed Experience and 5G Download Speed in Copacabana, clocking in at 101.7Mbps and 407Mbps, respectively.
- Coverage Experience and Availability are high for all three operators. Claro, TIM and Vivo score top marks for Coverage Experience, demonstrating comprehensive coverage of the Copacabana neighborhood. Additionally, our 5G users spend around a quarter of their time connected to 5G services across all three operators.
- Our users in the Copacabana neighborhood have a superior mobile experience compared to those in the city of Rio de Janeiro and that seen nationally. Across all three major networks, users in Copacabana enjoy better Reliability Experience, Consistent Quality, 5G Availability and 5G Download Speed — with the most notable difference being in 5G Availability.
TIM leads for Consistent Quality in Copacabana, scoring nearly seven percentage points higher than the next closest operator, Vivo, which scored 69.2%. This metric is an important component of user experience during large events. It reflects how often users’ experience on a network is sufficient to support various more demanding common applications used for a range of tasks such as voice and video calls, as well as uploading or downloading content on social media. Vivo also leads in a single metric, Download Speed Experience, and all three operators — Claro, TIM, and Vivo — tie for Coverage Experience. Each network earns a perfect 10 out of 10, with every location visited by our users in the neighborhood having mobile coverage.
Due to robust infrastructure, Brazilian 5G users in the area spend between 23.6-29.2% of their time connected to 5G services. When connected, users on all three networks benefit from Very Good (68-78) 5G Video Experience — enabling them to stream video at 1080p+ with minimal loading or stalling. Vivo stands out for 5G Download Speed, with speeds clocking in at more than 400Mbps.
Fast network speeds and reliable video performance are crucial during major events, when attendees are sharing content on social media, navigating crowded areas, and staying in touch. The strong 5G performance from all three operators forecasts that concertgoers in Copacabana will be able to stay connected and engaged throughout.
Copacabana’s relatively compact footprint gives mobile networks an advantage, allowing them to reach users more efficiently and deploy infrastructure upgrades that cover the entire area. When we compare our users’ experience on all three networks against both the city of Rio de Janeiro and across Brazil, Copacabana consistently comes out on top. Vivo’s and TIM’s scores show clear improvement as the focus narrows, scoring lowest nationally and highest for the Copacabana neighborhood. Claro, however, scores the worst in Rio de Janeiro, with its scores in the city lagging slightly behind the national average.
5G services follow a similar pattern to Reliability Experience and Consistent Quality, with all three networks in Copacabana out performing their city- and country-level results. The most striking difference is in 5G Availability — the time our 5G users spent connected to 5G — with national scores around half of those seen in the Copacabana neighborhood. National results are impacted by remote and rural locations that are harder to cover, as well as areas that have yet to receive 5G infrastructure. However, in July 2024, Brazil’s telecom regulator Anatel announced that 895 of the 5,570 municipalities in Brazil are already served by 5G technology.
While 5G Download Speed isn’t as directly affected by regions lacking 5G coverage, it does benefit from network density. More cell towers mean faster speeds due to less impact from physical obstructions, more capacity and closer proximity to cell sites. Copacabana’s compact geography provides it with an edge, delivering the fastest speeds on all three networks, with Vivo even surpassing the 400Mbps mark.
Mobile networks in Copacabana are well prepared to deal with the large crowds expected for Lady Gaga’s upcoming free concert. Past events have prompted Brazil’s operators to strengthen their infrastructure in the area — including last year’s record-breaking Madonna show, and the neighborhood’s spectacular New Year’s Eve celebrations. Investments in additional mobile antennas have boosted network capacity, and the results are clear: all three operators deliver better performance in Copacabana than in Rio de Janeiro or at the national level. Supporting this effort, the beach is also lined with Orla Rio Wi-Fi kiosks offering free internet access, helping to ease the load on mobile networks during major events.
To learn about the national experience of our Brazilian users in more depth, please read our most recent mobile network experience report. To stay updated on all Opensignal insights and articles, sign up for our newsletter.
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