English 
Spanish 
3 min read
Elon Musk's visit to Brazil resulted in the billionaire's interest in investing in internet on Brazilian flights, according to Anatel
After the visit of the billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the companies Tesla and SpaceX, to Brazil, which resulted in the validation of a plan with the federal government for the environmental monitoring of the Amazon, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, president of Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), reported that Elon Musk is also interested in providing internet on commercial flights in the country.
In addition to promising the provision of internet connection in approximately 19 schools in rural areas, Elon Musk and executives at Starlink also showed interest to Anatel's directors in providing internet to crew members in the commercial category of air travel in Brazil.
“He was very interested in this internet sector in the aviation market and asked about the need for a grant to offer internet on commercial planes”, reported Baigorri.
- New Law that reduces working hours to 30 hours will benefit 30 MILLION Brazilians
- No soy or sugarcane! Brazil's largest exported product is oil, to the delight of Petrobras and other companies in the sector.
- New pharmacy scam: what they do with your CPF in exchange for a discount revealed
- One of the largest Brazilian highways (BR) will be transformed! The highway will be widened by 221 km, R$ 7 billion in investments and could generate up to 100 THOUSAND jobs
According to the president of Anatel, the dialogue with Elon Musk was focused on providing explanations to understand how the procedures regarding the authorization of Private Limited Service (SLP) would take place, which according to Baigorri is a procedure that is “very simple” and could be ready in up to 10 business days.
Starlink signs deal with Hawaiian Airlines
In April, Starlink signed an agreement with the airline Hawaiian Airlines. This agreement aims to provide free internet service on domestic flights within the US and on international flights to Oceania and Asia.
Elon Musk, who owns a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at US$ 230 billion (approximately R$ 1 trillion), was this Friday, 20, with the head of state Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in the interior of São Paulo.
The event, where Elon Musk and Bolsonaro were present, brought together several businessmen and members of the first echelon of the federal government. At the meeting, the president commented that critics of his government would “spread lies” worldwide about the socio-environmental situation in the Amazon. However, the president did not know how to point out which lies these would be.
“We want, we need and we count on Elon Musk so that the Amazon is seen by everyone in Brazil and in the world, the exuberance of the region and how it is preserved”, said Bolsonaro to Elon Musk during the event that was held in a hotel in Porto Feliz.
The president also commented that Elon Musk could “be worried about himself”, but that he wanted, in an act of solidarity, to travel the world in defense of what the Brazilian president believes to be “freedom”.
Conchavo established between government and Elon Musk's company is still informal
Elon Musk, who came to Brazil on 20/05/2022 and met with authorities, announced the provision of free internet service, according to Anatel, to approximately 19.000 schools and monitoring of the Amazon, but did not close a formal agreement with Brazil.
Regarding the internet connection, Musk promised to provide all the necessary infrastructure, through the Starlink company, together with Anatel.
On 25/05, around 4 committees of the Chamber of Deputies called Minister Fábio Faria to clarify information about the meeting with Elon Musk and a possible partnership between the Brazilian government and Starlink.
The joint meeting is scheduled to take place on June 8.
“What has been done is that there is no agreement between the Brazilian government and Elon Musk's companies. What exists is a kind of promise or else a piece of propaganda. This is what we want to clarify in the Financial Inspection and Control Commission”, commented deputy Ivan Valente, responsible for the application approved by the commission.
The deputy also reported that the technical advisory is analyzing whether there is competition in the market, because in order to participate in internet connectivity programs in education and provide monitoring services, Starlink needs to win a public bid and also be approved by Anatel.
