Amazon (NASDAQ) and telecommunications giant Vrio are joining forces to launch a satellite internet service across seven South American countries, setting the stage for a showdown with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Vrio, the U.S. company overseeing DirecTV Latin America and Sky Brasil, will roll out the service in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper, brainchild of a former Starlink employee, will deploy satellites in low Earth orbit to beam internet to underserved areas.
About 200 million people in the region have poor, little, or no internet access. Couple that with challenging geography and limited infrastructure investment, and you’ve got a recipe for disruption.
The service aims to go live in mid-2025, kicking off in Argentina according to Project Kuiper’s rollout plan.
Bruno Henriques, head of Latin American business development for Project Kuiper, revealed plans to launch 3,236 satellites.
Amazon, which committed $10 billion to the project in 2019, envisions equal broadband access for urban, suburban, and rural customers alike.