When Viasat introduced residential internet service to Brazil in July, the company also made clear its commitment to expand across the country. Now, two months later, the service is available in 22 states and in all five regions. With this latest expansion, the Viasat residential service can reach more than 93% of the Brazilian population.
Residents living in Santa Catarina, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Bahia, Ceará, Alagoas, Sergipe, Maranhão, Pará, Rondônia, Amapá and Acre can now subscribe to Viasat 10Mega or Viasat 20Mega. Each plan offers two speed options: up to 10 or 20 Mbps.
“The expansion of Viasat’s residential service means that more Brazilians now have access to reliable, high-speed satellite-based internet service, even in the hardest-to-reach locations,” said Bruno Soares Henriques, commercial director, Viasat Brazil.
The service was initially offered across São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Amazonas and Distrito Federal.
“From our initial launch, we have seen tremendous demand for high-quality internet service in states including São Paulo and Amazonas,” Henriques said. “Bringing our connectivity to 14 additional states provides us with an opportunity to help connect even more people in unserved or underserved areas. Our expanding in-country service offerings demonstrate our commitment to Brazil.”
Upon completion of the national rollout, Viasat expects to be the only satellite internet service provider capable of making high-speed internet available in 100 percent of the country.
Connecting the heart of Brazil
Today, few internet providers reach the interior of the country, usually focusing on coastal and urban areas. The expansion of Viasat’s residential service was highly anticipated in states such as Mato Grosso do Sul, in Central-West Brazil.
“Internet services only reached capitals,” said Viasat distributor Rosilene Monteiro (better known by her business partners and customers as Lenna). “Now, we are able to bring high-quality satellite internet to people living in the most extreme locations you can imagine.”
Monteiro says so because that is where the Pantanal region — the world’s largest floodplain — is located. It makes farms and surrounding communities difficult to reach.
Together with her brothers, Vanderlei and Claudinei, she runs Lenna Sat, Viasat’s distributor for all 75 municipalities in Mato Grosso do Sul. They started the family business 15 years ago. And although Viasat is a recent chapter for them, there are already many stories to tell.
Installers have been using all kinds of transportation to get to Viasat’s customers: twin-engine aircraft, boats, and even a tractor when heavy rains caused a technician’s truck to get stuck.
“Today, one of my partners is going from Corumbá to Porto Esperança to complete five installations. It is a four-hour trip in a kind of motorboat, which we call ‘voadeira,’” Monteiro said. Since the ’90s, when the passenger train stopped running, Porto Esperança is only reachable navigating the Paraguay River.
A long-lasting relationship
The Lenna Sat brothers got to know Viasat thanks to Visiontec, a satellite products distribution company that is our local partner. They have been working together for over 14 years.
“When I learned about the project, I embraced Viasat,” Monteiro said. “I see a huge potential to be explored, and this is just the beginning.”
These are exactly the kinds of relationships that Viasat is hoping to build in Brazil: a network of regional partners interested in selling and installing residential internet service to help connect the country.
Viasat’s residential internet service is provided via the SGDC-1 satellite.