The telecommunications firm today is the only company in Latin America that has an agreement with Starlink to offer satellite coverage service for its mobile customers in Chile and Peru, but is anticipating the incorporation of more providers.
The 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing was the perfect excuse for the Chilean telecommunications firm Entel to celebrate its 60 years of existence and rekindle its commitment to satellite communications.
Under the motto “A future with history”, telco executives and authorities from the Chilean sector recalled that, thanks to the existence of the Longovilo satellite station, an hour and a half from Santiago, it allowed Chile to be the only Latin American country in transmitting this American feat live, thanks to the technology it developed as the state-owned National Telecommunications Company.
“This is a very symbolic milestone in the history of the company and reflects our spirit of being at the technological forefront, but also of being ingenious and brave to bring this technology closer to people. In this case, the satellite reception antenna had to be rotated, outside the protocol, to take advantage of an opportunity that arose, and thus arrive with the live transmission,” explained Entel general manager Antonio Büchi.
In the audience, some of the engineers who made this achievement possible, along with government authorities and figures from the telecommunications sector, watched him attentively.
It was also the moment when the CEO of the firm, which was completed privatized in 1992, reaffirmed that satellites return in glory and majesty to play a relevant role in telecommunications.
“Today we are seeing a revival of the satellite world. Entel was a leader in entering this satellite world, it was later in mobile communications, fiber optic communications. And today we see again this satellite space that is connecting everyone in places where the signal does not reach. This is being achieved today by companies that once again have the vision and the ability to take risks and do something to change the world,” Büchi stressed.
His statement was in reference to the agreement he has with Elon Musk's Starlink, to bring the internet to remote places.
But this alliance will also soon make it possible to “directly connect satellites to ordinary cell phones, anywhere in the world. And that is the future that we are beginning to live forward,” added the CEO.
Already last December, the alliance with Space X, Starlink's parent company, had been announced to enable the service in Chile and Peru. And this alliance is expected to be active at the end of 2024, through “Direct to Cell” technology.
As highlighted in telco, Starlink has alliances with other telecommunications firms such as T-Mobile in the United States, Optus in Australia, Rogers in Canada, One NZ in New Zealand and KDDI in Japan, but in Latin America it has only agreed with Entel.
The firm also reported during its ordinary shareholders meeting in April that it would invest US$618 million - equivalent to 19.7% of its revenues - to consolidate its leadership in the mobile business, expand its fiber optic network and position itself as a pioneer. in cutting-edge technologies such as 5G and satellite connectivity.
LOCAL SATELLITE INDUSTRY
Chile is accelerating its pace in satellite matters, to be in line with satellite technologies and regulations.
This was stated to AméricaEconomía by Claudio Araya, Undersecretary of Telecommunications.
“There has been a paradigm shift in the way in which satellite digital connectivity projects are conceived and, as a result of that paradigm shift, we had a need to accelerate [the measures],” the authority highlighted.
This has been addressed through a ministerial aerospace advisory committee, which is dedicated to updating the national aerospace policy.
"Along with the renewal of the policy, a model was created that we call the national satellite system, which is a very long-term project in which we aspire to launch stationary satellites and also low-orbit satellites that allow us a certain strategic autonomy," added Araya. .
This national satellite system is already conceptualized, and the Chilean authority seeks to operationalize the different stages that will come, which involves building earth stations for the development of satellite systems, the first of which begins in the second semester.
“At the bottom we put the accelerator and these things are starting to happen. Within the regulatory framework there are no legal modifications, but the national policy did have a change to account for how the satellite industry changed in the last five years,” he explained.
In addition to promoting a nascent local aerospace industry, Araya also highlighted the need to have technology for the country's strategic needs.
The numbers provided by Subtel in April of this year also show sustained growth in Chilean residential satellite connections, which grew 88.4% between April 2023 and April of this year and 163% so far in the Government.
MORE SATELLITES AND DIRECT TO CELL
Through a constellation of satellites that use low Earth orbit, Starlink offers broadband Internet at different latitudes.
This year, the firm already announced that it plans to expand its Direct to Cell service to LTE cell phones in Chile and Peru. First with text messages for remote locations. In another year with data and voice service for calls and navigation.
This benefit will come without the need to make changes to the equipment, since both Entel and Starlink have said that it will be enough to have the LTE (Long Term Evolution) connection standard for its operation.
“The launch of the new low-orbit constellations that will replace previous geostationary satellites will make it possible to close the digital divide quickly. Three agreements have already been signed with Starlink, and we are also waiting for the new constellations that will compete with Starlink in the future,” Entel satellite network expert Guillermo Cifuentes tells AmericaEconomía.
The reason is that the telco wants to have several suppliers, to allow for even better technical and economic conditions to close the digital divide.
Thus, in addition to Starlink, which already has more than 6,000 satellites, comes the bet of Amazon Kuiper, which has two satellites in testing and a small monitoring station in Longovilo.
“Then comes the massive launch, and it is expected that by 2026-2027 we will have at least two or three more actors. Then there will be competition and, of course, that will be a benefit to close the digital gap and the price of the service,” concludes the expert.
