Billionaire Elon Musk came to Brazil this Friday (20) to participate in the “Conecta Amazônia” event and promote the launch of the Starlink satellite internet service in the country alongside President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), government officials and businessmen.
On Twitter, Musk said the initiative will provide connections to 19,000 schools in rural areas in Brazil and help monitor the Amazon.
Announced in November last year, the company’s partnership with the Brazilian government seeks to expand connectivity in regions where there is no adequate internet supply.
The Ministry of Communications said at the time that the implementation of the program would begin in 2022. The technology will be incorporated into Wi-Fi Brasil, a federal program aimed at poor areas that offers free internet access in public institutions.
The partnership for low-orbit satellites does not depend on a bidding process, and can be closed through an administrative process at Anatel (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações). SpaceX received authorization from the regulator in January of this year. The amounts involved in the partnership have not been revealed so far.
WHAT IS STARLINK?
Starlink is a division of SpaceX, a space exploration company founded by Musk in 2002, which aims to offer fast, low-latency internet to remote regions.
The more than 2,200 active Starlink satellites cover the entire planet and are at an altitude of about 550 km – a common geostationary satellite orbits the Earth at 35,000 km. Low altitude allows the speed of data exchange between user and satellite (latency) to be lower when compared to other services.
In cable internet, data exchanges between provider and user are carried out over land. With satellites, the connection is made over the air, using high-frequency signals and antennas, such as cell phone internet and the long-awaited 5G.
According to Starlink, users can expect download speeds between 100 and 200 Mbps, and latency of up to 20 ms in most locations.
For now, coverage in Brazil covers the states of Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and part of Minas Gerais. The service will arrive “soon” in the North region, according to the map available on the company’s website.
To connect to Elon Musk’s internet, the user needs to be in the coverage area, buy a Starlink kit (Wi-Fi router, power supply, cables and antenna) and subscribe to the service.
The company announced in March a price increase to keep up with US inflation. The subscription went from $99 to $110, while the kit went from $499 to $599.
In Brazil, prices follow the dollar exchange rate and include import taxes. The equipment costs R$ 3,365 (shipping included) and the subscription costs R$ 530 per month. A broadband internet plan with the same speed promised by Starlink costs around R$120 a month in São Paulo.
X-RAY | SpaceX
Foundation 2002
CEO Elon Musk
Recipe $2 billion (2018)
Thirst Hawthorne, California, USA
Employees 9,765
services Orbital rocket launch and satellite internet
number of releases 159
Mainly competitors Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance
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