Last year, Amazon successfully tested its new Internet service from space, which will bring Internet to homes and businesses starting in 2025. To reach that goal, Amazon received FCC approval earlier this year to start testing up to 1,000 prototype dishes all around the United States. This will let Amazon begin mass testing as it prepares to launch satellites this year.
Now Amazon has reached a deal with DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil to offer high-speed internet service to several countries in South America. With this project, Vrio, the parent company of DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil, plans to offer high-speed internet from Amazon bundled into its TV service in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia through DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil.
“This collaboration with Project Kuiper is in line with our strategy of extending our services throughout South America and continues to define us as a regional leader in information, digital entertainment, connectivity and innovation promotion. We are concerned with bridging the technology gap and even more so the digital divide for our future generations. And the time is now. Our commitment translates into action. Providing internet access across the region ensures the development of communities; and that is a commitment for our company.” He added, “We look forward to bringing the benefits of affordable internet access and connectivity to more communities to reach further with a service that will revolutionize the way people connect.” Said Dario Werthein the president of Viro Corp.
“Project Kuiper is a powerful opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Panos Panay, Amazon’s senior vice president for devices and services. “There are hundreds of millions of households around the world that don’t have access to reliable broadband internet, which means they can’t take part in things that we can take for granted, like being able to learn online, run a business online, shop, or enjoy streaming entertainment. Working with Vrio to bring affordable access to broadband means we can enable so many more people to create, connect, and learn in new ways.”
Earlier this year, Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy had given an update on the service in his letter to shareholders. “In October, we hit a major milestone in our journey to commercialize Project Kuiper when we launched two end-to-end prototype satellites into space, and successfully validated all key systems and sub-systems—rare in an initial launch like this. Kuiper is our low Earth orbit satellite initiative that aims to provide broadband connectivity to the 400-500 million households who don’t have it today (as well as governments and enterprises seeking better connectivity and performance in more remote areas) and is a very large revenue opportunity for Amazon. We’re on track to launch our first production satellites in 2024. We’ve still got a long way to go but are encouraged by our progress.”
So now that Amazon is close to launching the service, what do we know about it? What is the pricing, launch date, and more? Here is everything we know about Amazon’s new home Internet service.
Amazon’s Internet service will come in three speed options:
Standard This standard version will have an 11″ square antenna that will offer speeds up to 400 Mbps down. This will be perfect for most households.
Pro If you need a lot of speed, Amazon has an 11″ by 30″ pro antenna that can offer speeds up to 1 Gbps. This will be perfect for companies or large households.
Portable If speed is not important and you want something you can easily travel with, look into Amazon’s ultra-portable version that is 7″ square and offers speeds up to 100 Mbps.
What can you expect from this service?
One of the big questions about Amazon’s new home Internet service has been the cost. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says he expects the new Internet service to offer a low price that will help it reach the 400 to 500 million households still without Internet.
Jassy was recently interviewed by CNBC’s Jim Cramer. In that interview, Jassy said, “I think we can charge a low price and still make good margins where it’s a good business for us. I actually am very bullish about that business.”
According to Bloomberg, a standard satellite dish from Amazon will cost under $400 to manufacture. This will help Amazon undercut the $599.99 cost that SpaceX charges for its standard Starlink kit. The standard satellite dish from Amazon promises speeds of up to 400 Mbps down.
Unfortunately, we still don’t know the monthly cost, but Amazon seems dedicated to being cheaper than SpaceX’s Starlink.
Amazon hopes to start limited testing in late 2024 and to slowly roll out the service in 2025. Like the Starlink rollout, look for the service to be offered in limited areas at first as Amazon moves to expand the service in more areas.
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