Amazon’s internet service that wants to compete with Elon Musk’s company

Project Kuiper will use thousands of small satellites that operate in coordinated movements in space, just like Starlink. Amazon service will arrive in Latin America in mid-2025. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Reuters Starlink, billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, will have a new competitor in the coming months. Amazon, owned by fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos, will begin offering its Project Kuiper provider in Latin America from 2025 – it will arrive in Brazil in 2026. Project Kuiper and Starlink have several things in common, including the use of small satellites that operate in the so-called “low Earth orbit” (LEO) and the focus on users in regions with little internet supply. And both are looking for governments as customers: Starlink is already used in Army battalions and Navy ships, for example, and Project Kuiper will offer devices with more capacity aimed at use by public agencies. To enter this market, Amazon wants to operate 3,236 satellites, creating a “constellation” in which equipment operates in coordinated movements in space. Check out how the company says Project Kuiper will work below: 🛰️ satellites will be at altitudes of 590 km to 630 km from Earth, while Starlink models are closer, at 550 km, and conventional (or geostationary) satellites, at 35,000 km – the proximity to Earth reduces latency, an important index for video calls and online games, for example; 🛜 download speed will be up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), four times the limit of Starlink, which claims to reach up to 220 megabits per second (Mbps) – in practice, Starlink has an average of 70 Mbps, according to data from SpeedTest ( Ookla) from the 1st quarter of 2023; 📶 connection will be made via a terminal that may be the size of a book (this version, however, will only reach speeds of up to 100 Mbps); 📺 customers in Latin America will be served by Vrio, owner of satellite TV operator Sky, which signed an agreement with Amazon in the region. Kuiper Project Terminals, Amazon’s satellite internet service Disclosure/Amazon Kuiper Project x Starlink The Amazon and Vrio agreement will take Project Kuiper to seven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. Starlink, in turn, says that its service is now available in more than 80 countries. In Brazil, providers should first focus on regions with low internet access rates. “Our focus is on customers who, today, live outside the coverage area of ​​fiber companies”, Bruno Henriques, business development leader of the Kuiper Project in Latin America, told g1. “But our network is also very flexible to serve governments, such as connecting schools and hospitals, and to serve companies that are in more remote and difficult to access areas. And with a strong focus on emergencies and responding to natural disasters.” The satellite internet segment represents 1% of fixed broadband accesses in Brazil, according to data from Anatel, in July 2024. Starlink leads this category, with a 44.6% share. Musk’s internet provider almost tripled in size in one year, going from 90,000 accesses in July 2023 to 224,000 in July 2024, according to Anatel. Access to fixed broadband in Brazil The two services paid R$102,000 each to use their satellites commercially in Brazil. They received from Anatel the right to offer services in the country at least until 2027. “Anatel grants the grant to these companies as long as the frequency bands do not interfere with services that are already implemented”, explained the director of the National Telecommunications Institute ( Inatel), Carlos Nazareth. “Anatel’s role is to regulate the frequency band, spectrum occupancy, rate and quality of service it will offer.” What is Starlink, Elon Musk’s internet service, and how does it work? Does letting your cell phone charge up to 100% damage the battery? Starlink terminals, billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet service Marco Santos / Ag. Pará How will it work? Project Kuiper will be released first in Argentina, in mid-2025. Brazil is expected to receive the service in a second stage, probably in early 2026. As with other satellite services, Project Kuiper customers will use antennas to connect to the internet. Amazon says that the intermediate model, with a capacity of up to 400 Mbps, will have a production cost of US$400 (around R$2,200), but did not inform the monthly fee. The company will sell a compact, book-sized model with 100 Mbps capacity, and a more advanced 1 Gbps version aimed at business and government uses, but has not revealed when they will cost. Starlink charges from R$1,000 for equipment (kit with antenna, router and cables), in addition to the monthly fee that starts at R$184, taking into account prices in September 2024. And, to offer broad coverage, the companies need thousands of satellites. Starlink already has more than 6,400 pieces of equipment in space, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell, who monitors the company’s constellation. In the case of Project Kuiper, the first satellite prototypes were launched in October 2023. Amazon has another 77 missions planned to send the 3,236 pieces of equipment that will be used in commercial operations. Launch of the first satellite prototypes of Amazon’s Kuiper Project on October 6, 2023 Disclosure/United Launch Alliance The company’s expectation is that each piece of equipment will have a useful life of up to 10 years, depending on space conditions. “Many people think that there in space, because there is no atmosphere, the conditions are wonderful, but that’s not true. There are electromagnetic storms, solar storms. So, satellites are also affected by environmental issues in space, just as they are on Earth”, explained Henriques, from Amazon. This investment will cost at least US$10 billion, as the company revealed in 2019 – the value has not been updated since then. The amount will be used to manufacture satellites and antennas, and implement gateways, which connect the terrestrial fiber optic network with equipment in space. Starlink Satellite Disclosure/Starlink Partnership with TV operator In Latin America, the Kuiper Project will be offered by Vrio, owner of the satellite TV operator Sky. Under the agreement, sales and service will be the responsibility of this partner, and not Amazon. “We have been working on a partnership in which Amazon puts in the satellite and terrestrial infrastructure, and we put in the distribution,” said Vrio’s vice president, Lucas Werthein. According to the executive, efforts will initially be focused on small and medium-sized cities, as Brazilian capitals already tend to have more connectivity. “The probability of achieving a very high penetration in the center of the city of São Paulo will not be easy. Brazil is a very large territory, we have to focus our energies on where it is possible to reach.” READ ALSO: The social network that broke records for interactions after blocking X in Brazil Is publishing in the feed ‘an old thing’? Post generates debate about behavior on networks How was the closure of the X office in Brazil Project Kuiper antenna for business and government purposes will have a capacity of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), according to Amazon Disclosure/Amazon iPhone 16 is launched with new button to control the camera; see prices in Brazil



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