In a recent agreement, Vrio, the parent company of DirecTV Latin America and Sky Brasil, has partnered with Amazon to distribute satellite broadband services in the region. This collaboration will utilize Project Kuiper’s low orbit satellite technology, led by Jeff Bezos. Vrio plans to offer Project Kuiper services to residential customers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia through its subsidiaries.
The primary objective of this alliance is to provide Internet connectivity to areas where traditional physical infrastructure like fiber cabling may be challenging and expensive to implement. The speeds tested thus far have reached between 100 to 400 Mbps for residential services and up to 1 Gbps for business services. Vrio’s president Darío Werthein emphasized the significance of this partnership in bridging the technological and digital divide within South America and empowering future generations with access to essential services.
Vrio’s transformation from a satellite TV company to a media tech company focused on reducing the technological and educational gap is highlighted through this collaboration. By offering Amazon services through Vrio, customers can expect localized billing, customer service, technical support, and content in their preferred language. This strategic alliance between Vrio and Amazon aims to provide a superior satellite connectivity service compared to existing options in terms of speed, latency, reliability, and price.
While Starlink, a company under Elon Musk is widely known for its low orbit satellite connectivity service; Project Kuiper by Amazon has been making significant progress since its inception in 2018. The project aims to deploy satellites supported by a global network of antennas; fiber; and ground-based Internet connection points that will begin offering services to customers in the southern part of the continent by July 2025. The gradual expansion of coverage will continue over the coming years following a south-to-north trajectory.
Project Kuiper has been conducting tests and deployments expedite the availability of high-speed satellite internet as it strives towards having its first global customers by the end of this year marking a significant step towards bringing connectivity
