By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-21 06:11:23 | Updated at 2024-11-21 09:01:26
3 hours ago
A Chinese tech company has signed a deal in Brazil that positions it as a potential challenger to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet constellation in the region.
Shanghai-based SpaceSail on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Brazil’s state-owned telecoms firm Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras (Telebras) coinciding with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the Latin American country. The agreement will provide broadband internet services in Brazil in 2026.
SpaceSail plans to bring satellite-based internet access to areas with limited connectivity by deploying its Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails”, constellation, a low-Earth orbit satellite network currently under construction that would support Brazil’s national digital inclusion policies, according to its official WeChat account.
The initiative is intended to provide broadband services to schools, hospitals and rural communities, streamlining the delivery of essential public services in previously underserved regions while driving the country’s digital economic transformation.
Brazil wants to reduce reliance on Starlink, which dominates 46 per cent of the country’s satellite internet market, by seeking to diversify its satellite internet providers.
Musk was locked in a months-long dispute with Brazil this year after the country’s Supreme Court suspended his social media platform X for refusing to block accounts spreading misinformation.
