Satellite broadband company dominates Brazilian market and has already requested telecoms telegulator ANATEL to expand network in the country
09/02/2024
Starlink informed Brazil’s telecoms regulator ANATEL that it will not comply with the decision by Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the Federal Supreme Court to suspend access to Elon Musk’s social media platform X.
The information was passed informally by the company to the agency’s chief, Carlos Baigorri, as revealed by TV Globo.
ANATEL has initiated a procedure on the 30th to notify internet carriers and shut down the platform.
Starlink offers satellite internet services and, like X, is owned by billionaire Elon Musk. With the platform’s non-compliance with court decisions, Justice Moraes ordered the company’s accounts to be blocked so that the imposed fines could be paid.
According to the president of ANATEL, the company is conditioning the cut-off of access to X on the suspension of the blockade of its accounts. He also stated that the maximum sanction for a telecommunications company, in case of non-compliance with decisions, is the revocation of the license, which would prevent Starlink from operating in Brazil.
Justice Moraes ordered the shutdown of X on Friday. The measure was adopted after the platform began to disregard court decisions and refused to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil.
In May, Starlink reached 42.5% of the market, overtaking Hughesnet, which held 38.1%, according to ANATEL. In June, Starlink had 215,500 customers, mainly in the Amazon region.
*Por Isadora Peron — Brasília
Source: Valor International