Elon Musk in Brazil: how can Starlink be used in the Amazon?

In addition to bringing fast internet to places where 5G won’t be able to access, the billionaire’s satellites are expected to help control fires and illegal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Elon Muskthe richest man in the world, met today, 20, with the president Jair Bolsonaro. The meeting with Bolsonaro and businessmen took place in the city of Porto Feliz, in the interior of São Paulo, at around 10 am in parallel with Conecta Amazônia, an event to discuss regulatory frameworks in the Amazon and connectivity in schools.

On twitter, musk celebrated his visit: “Super excited to be in Brazil for the launch of starlink for 19,000 disconnected schools in rural areas and environmental monitoring of the Amazon!”, he wrote in his account.

The project in question, which involves the starlinkcompany of musk which operates low-orbit satellites in Brazil, plans to offer ultra-fast internet in regions where 5G is unlikely to reach due to the high cost of infrastructure.

The first meeting to discuss the project took place in December last year between the Minister of Telecommunications, Fábio Faria, and the billionaire. According to Faria, with Starlink satellites, in addition to taking internet to remote places, it will be possible to control fires and illegal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

What is the difference between regular and Starlink satellites?

According muska starlink operates through a constellation of several satellites that orbit at a distance close to Earth, approximately 550 km. Meanwhile, traditional geostationary satellites orbit the planet at an altitude of 35,000 km.

According to Starlink, because it works through the vacuum of space, it is possible to send and receive information faster than the fiber optic cable system. Something that was only possible because of another billionaire’s business, the SpaceXthe aerospace company that invested billions to build Starlink and blanket the Earth with lightning-fast internet.

internet of war

In February, amid the suspension of internet services in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, musk activated the service of starlink in the country. The action came after a request from Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on Twitter.

On the same day, Starlink’s coverage was activated on Ukrainian territory and, three days later, the first shipment of kits with antennas and routers arrived so that Ukrainians could access the service.

You already have the approval of Anatel

Here in Brazil, in January of this year, the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) approved the use of connected satellites from starlink in the country. The license, valid until March 2027, allows about 4,400 devices from Musk’s company to operate in remote areas, taking internet connection via antennas to date.

The operation would even gain a name of its own around here. THE starlink would be called starlink Brazil Holding Limited in Brazilian representation. Last week, Anatel released another router from starlink in Brazil. A few days earlier, the company musk updated the service availability map to officially include Brazil among the countries served.

For now, coverage of starlink it involves almost the entire territory of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina. Until the end of this semester, Rio Grande do Sul should receive the service and, until December, cities in the north of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo will have coverage.

With today’s meeting, the expectation is that the conversations will move forward, and new definitions related to prices and areas of coverage of the company will be defined – with the Amazon being one of the main targets, especially due to the lack of access to optical fiber.

How much does Starlink internet cost?

Regarding prices, the expectation is that they will be a little salty for the final public. the internet of starlink should cost around R$500 per month, but the kit that includes antenna and router is more than R$2,000.

Source: Exam