Amazon said on Thursday (June 13) that it would jointly launch satellite Internet services in seven South American countries with American telecom company Vrio. This collaboration will enable them to compete directly with Starlink, a service under Elon Musk.
Vrio is responsible for managing the commercial operations of DirecTV and Sky Brasil's Latin American branch. According to the plan, both parties will provide this service to clients in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
"We believe the opportunity is enormous," said Lucas Werthein, Vice President of Vrio
Werthein pointed out that there are about 200 million people in the region, with little or no Internet access. In addition to the geographical topography of the region, the region will face challenges in large-scale infrastructure investment.
It is reported that this service for South America will be launched in mid-2025 and will start in Argentina.
"The Kuiper Plan"
The service that Vrio collaborates with Amazon is an important step in Amazon's Project Kuiper. The "Kuiper Plan", namely the space Internet service plan, will use the so-called low Earth orbit satellites to provide Internet services.
Amazon first disclosed its "Kuiper Plan" in 2019, stating that it planned to invest $10 billion in the project and set a plan to launch 3236 low Earth orbit satellites.
Bruno Henriques, the head of Latin American business development at Amazon, recently pointed out that Amazon will outline a satellite launch plan in the coming months.
Henriques said, "Our goal is to enable all users, whether they live in urban, suburban, or rural areas, to enjoy the same level of broadband access."