This article considers the postprivatization dynamics of Brazil's market for mobile cellular telephony, which is already the largest in Latin America and the Caribbean and is likely to grow further, albeit within the constraints of an oligopoly. Reforms in the wireless sector focused on maximizing foreign direct investment at privatization. In combination with external events and a spurt of mergers and acquisitions, the phased-in competitiveness plan for the telecommunications sector permitted the formation of a national oligopoly. As a result, and despite careful attention paid by reformers to the competitiveness of the sector, conditions for effective competition have not emerged. Copyright 2005, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
