The fifth generation of mobile connection, 5G, promises to be the next big step in technology based on the flow of information, with faster speed and reduced signal fluctuations for internet access.
If, on the one hand, it is unquestionable that the speed can be 100 times greater than the current 4G internet connection, the uncertainty that still looms concerns the extent to which this technology will be available on a large scale in locations of low interest to telephone operators and with fragile infrastructure.
This is the case for most of the Legal Amazon. In the two largest cities in the region, Belém and Manaus, the new signal is already available, but only in some neighborhoods and users still do not feel the difference in connection performance.
Already available in the capitals and some cities in the metropolitan region, 5G in the Amazon has not yet reached important regional centers in the state of Pará, such as Santarém, Marabá, Parauapebas and Castanhal, all of them with more than 200 thousand inhabitants.
According to the calendar established National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), activation should start in July 2026 with the installation of an antenna for every 15,000 residents in cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, whereas in municipalities with less than 30,000 inhabitants, the activation is expected to go up to 2030: there are 41 municipalities in the state of Amazonas and 64 in the state of Pará within this profile.
But this is not the first time the Amazon region is left behind when it comes to the internet issue: thirteen years after the 4G band was launched, 51.1% of non-urban areas in Pará had no internet coverage whatsoever by 2022.
Currently, the most populous state in the Legal Amazon has 690,661 internet users who subscribe to fixed broadband service providers, representing approximately 9% of the population and one third of this total live in Belém, the capital of Pará.
This scenario is replicated across the region in other states: a report published by the National Telecommunications Agency in 2021 points out that only 18.8% of rural areas in Tocantins have access to 4G band. Rondônia (18.1%), Acre (17.8%), Mato Grosso (12.7%), Amapá (11%), Amazonas (8.8%) and Roraima (3%) appear at the bottom of the list, with the lowest non-urban coverage in Brazil.
Regional inequalities
The nine states of the Legal Amazon have, on average, 80.08% of residents with access to the 4G signal.
These figures are far from 99.79% in the Federal District, 99.32% in São Paulo and 99.24% in Rio de Janeiro.
For Weverton Cordeiro, a researcher from the Institute of Informatics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the numbers reveal that the consolidation process in the region will be slow and insufficient.
This is due to the very high costs of installation and the few number of users. The equation unbalances the financial spreadsheets of operators, which do not see immediate profit in this part of Brazil.
"But the losses are innumerable. We talk more and more about distance education, democratization of internet teaching, online classrooms use. And the Amazon is being left out of this process. If you have difficulty downloading a PDF, an entire generation is lagging behind in a region already stigmatized and with plenty of social needs. From a commercial point of view, sales cannot be accomplished due to the internet precariousness to operate the portable credit card machines. Basic operations carried out with ease in other regions of Brazil become obstacles in the Amazon region: contact with suppliers, internet sales, organization of production chains. The region loses a lot of its growth potential and income generation. This is also another window for the marginalization of the Amazon", points out Cordeiro.
Born and raised in Itaituba, in the Southwest of Pará, Weverton Cordeiro knows what it's like to depend upon the internet and not have it in the palm of your hand.
Today, Itaituba has a coverage of 81.59% and Eletronorte's fiber optic network, which is used to monitor the energy grid installed in the region is responsible for much of it.
Even so, it is not enough to fulfill the population demands, according to the researcher.
The large-scale precarious internet in the region can also be harmful to the environment, in the opinion of Professor Tadeu Paes, a specialist in education and cybersecurity.
"5G can help a lot in monitoring forests, fauna, livestock. See how much progress we have achieved in combating deforestation, fires and mining, despite the difficulties in connection in some regions of the Amazon. Imagine if we could have drones helping to preserve the forest with communication in real time, increasing data performance and ensuring preventive actions and quick responses? The internet is not just a matter of domestic use or entertainment. It is a public policy that can help the country evolve on several fronts", he evaluates.
Satellite Internet is expensive and inefficient
Billionaire Elon Musk made headlines in Brazil in 2022 when he announced he would bring internet to 19,000 rural Brazilian schools, focusing on the Amazon.
So far, his company Starlink operating in the field, has reached only three schools in the region with satellite connections.
The then Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, stated that the investment for installing the gateway alone, ‘the entrance’ to the internet, was R$ 10 billion.
Google's Loon project, on the other hand, wanted to connect the Amazon with the help of satellites installed in balloons, hovering over the territory.
The initiative was canceled and one of the reasons was the high costs.
These facts demonstrate how expensive is internet via satellite, prevalent in the Amazon.
Satellite internet is the option for locations where there is no access to cabling or fiber optics. In addition, it does not require the installation of towers on the ground.
If users have their own antenna equipped with a transmission and reception unit, it will communicate with the satellite in space.
However, there are many limitations: the connection usually uses radio waves, which may be affected by a lot of interference.
Besides, as the antenna is central to the operation, specific weather conditions can drop the signal off, for example, during heavy storms.
Also, the antenna must be precisely positioned to be connected to the satellite in space, which decreases the range of network usage.
"The difficulty was such that I remember in Itaituba the cell phone tower was connected to the satellite tower. In other words, a closed system, not very wide", recalls Professor Weverton Cordeiro.
Government invests in fluvial infoways
It is through the rivers that the Federal Government plans to overcome the high costs and limitations of satellite internet: launched in 2020, the ‘Norte Conectado’ project aims to implement 12,000 km long underwater infoways [information highways], connecting 59 municipalities in Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima.
The expectation is that 10 million Brazilians will benefit. So far, out of eight started infoways, one has already been finished and the second is under conclusion phase.
The first stretch, named ‘Infovia 00’, connects Macapá, capital of Amapá, to the municipality of Alenquer, west of Pará.
The activation occurred in July 2022 with 770 kilometers of extension. The cabling also passes through the municipalities of Almeirim, Monte Alegre and Santarém in Pará and cost R$ 90 million, according to data from the Union budget.
Likewise, ‘Infovia 01’ is about 1,100 kilometers long and connects Santarém, in western Pará, to Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, passing through the cities of Curuá, Óbidos, Oriximiná, Juruti and Terra Santa, in Pará; and Parintins, Urucurituba, Itacoatiara and Autazes, in the state of Amazonas.
In this phase, the interconnection of the municipalities from Curuá to Alenquer (PA) will also be carried out – a stretch that will be part of ‘Infovia 00’.
According to data from the Union budget, R$165 million were invested in this project. Six companies will commercially operate and exploit ‘Infovia 00’ for 15 years. The consortium that will operate ‘Infovia 01’ is integrated by 12 companies.
Currently, two schools in Santarém benefit from the pilot project of ‘Infovia 00’ focused on education. According to Professor Geremias Souza de Santos, coordinator of the Municipal Technological Nucleus of Santarém, the connection has been fundamental for public computer education since elementary levels, focusing on the first to fifth grade.
"Students are encouraged to research more, not only due to the study directed by the teachers [in other subjects], but at least once a week they have computer classes. There are 408 schools in the municipality to which we provide technical support, maintenance of computers. Today, 368 are part of the Connected Education Innovation Program, of the Ministry of Education in partnership with the Ministry of Communication. There are 97 computer labs", he says, celebrating the arrival of the infoways.
Infoways are, in fact, the most viable option, in Tadeu Paes' opinion. According to him, there are successful experiences in the region that can serve as a lesson for new initiatives, such as Navega Pará.
"It's a program launched in 2008 and, at that time, it already had this conception that the specificities of the region demanded creativity and different ways of connecting people. They use a completely hybrid connection, mixing fiber optics, towers, satellite and radio waves. It is different in each place, everything is done with very accurate topographical and demographic knowledge. And everything is interconnected. That makes a difference", he says.
However, Navega Pará is operated by the government. When it comes to private internet services, researcher Weverton Cordeiro argues that the government needs to discuss with companies to ensure that they also act for the benefit of social welfare and preserve access to the internet as a constitutional right, beyond specific business interests.
He recalls that the internet was established as a fundamental right by the United Nations (UN), as well as electricity and drinking water.
"The government needs to encourage the expansion of the services, but with clear conditions, beneficial counterparts. The ideal policy would be the reduction of taxes and the subsidizing of infrastructure by the Federal Government, but ensuring increased coverage by the operators in certain parts of the country. The 5G auction was very different from the airport auction, which was carried out in blocks that mixed airports of great interest with smaller airports, in smaller cities. That is, we are depriving cities in the Amazon of their citizenship", states Cordeiro.
CHALLENGE
Tadeu Paes adds another challenge that could be overcome with help from the government.
"New educational investments in the area are important. Here in the Amazon, I have noticed the lack of technical training of professionals for 5G. The technology is arriving and the workforce is imported. This makes everything more expensive. We understand our region better, but there is a shortage of professionals with certifications from companies like Cisco. Professionals are still getting adapted and this makes things go slower", he points out.
Reporters have contacted the Ministry of Communications and the National Telecommunications Agency, but there has been no response until the closing of this edition.
Among the companies that won the 5G auction, TIM informed that they prefer not to comment on 5G in the Amazon at the moment. Vivo sent a note stating that 5G is already in operation in Belém (PA), Ananindeua (PA), Manaus (AM), Macapá (AP), Palmas (TO), Boa Vista (RR), Rio Branco (AC) and Porto Velho (RO). Claro did not respond until the closing of this edition.
