Starlink has it today 150 thousand users in Brazil. The company was licensed to operate in the country just over two years ago, in January 2022, and has become a preferred option in rural or hard-to-reach areas. The Starlink signal in these areas tends to have better quality and speed than competitors' signal, due to the satellite system the operator uses.
Starlink equipment has been confiscated in critical locations. Of the 32 antennas found by Ibama since April last year, 9 were found on Yanomami indigenous land, which is undergoing a humanitarian crisis, and another 12 were found near Vale do Javari, the area where indigenous man Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips. They died in 2022.
UOL asked Starlink if it had any control over the sale of devices or use of the signal, but received no response. The company, which has no physical office in Brazil, did not respond to attempts to contact us by phone and email.
Ibama recognizes that “it was common to find Starlink antennas at mining sites.”. In a note sent to UOL“The antennas that are found are confiscated, and when it is not possible to remove them due to the unavailability of the road, they are destroyed by inspectors,” the agency stated.
Starlink already has a virtual monopoly on reporting environmental crimes in the Amazon. Using the Internet in a remote area, such as a mine, is less expensive, much faster and more practical than its competitors, which have disappeared. Every criminal camp today has a Starlink antenna.
Felipe Augusto Wenger, head of Ibama's Special Inspections Department
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