Internet in Brazil
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As a result of Telebras privatization in 1998, telecommunication groups, such as Telefónica, Telemar and Brasil Telecom dispute the largest part of the broadband market offered under the regular telephone network. There is still a controversy on whether it is mandatory to sign a contract with an "Internet Access Provider" or not, this being subject of several judicial disputes and lawsuits. Currently there are about 23 million internet users in Brazil.
ADSL was successful in Brazil during beta testing, and became popular in 2000, with the main ISPs being Telefonica (Speedy), TVA (Ajato), NET (Virtua) and Brasil Telecom (Velox), with typical speeds of around 256 kbit/s down and 128 kbit/s up. Speeds are now between 300 kbit/s and 1 Mbit/s, with some high end options of 2, 4 or 8 Mbit/s, but at significantly higher prices. Broadband access is split between ADSL, cablemodem, satellite and radio (publicized as 'radio internet', but it is actually a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO hardware solution), with some WiFi services appearing in 2004.
Broadband Internet is now going through troubled times in Brazil, because of new imposed limitations in the form of data caps with very high charges for additional traffic. The price of a complete ADSL package (ISP + DSL) is currently (as of late 2004) in the region of R$ 90-120 / US$42-56. In São Paulo State, Vírtua is expanding their services in several cities, installing optic fibers where there are NET offices or using the Vivax network (NET bought Vivax).
[edit] ISP Controversy
The Internet access companies push for a distinction between an "Internet Access Provider", which provides e-mail accounts and other peripheral services (Terra Networks is an example of Internet Access Provider), and "Physical Connection Provider", which provides the actual physical, connection to the Internet (Telefónica is an example of a "Physical Connection Provider"). Therefore, the role of providing the access by an ISP in Brazil is fulfilled by the physical connection providers, while contracts with "access" providers, who just serve to provide e-mail accounts, are typically forced upon the consumers.
Wireless LAN ISPs are becoming more common in the interior of the country. In big cities some WiFi hotspots are also available. As of November 2005, some cable companies started to offer 2, 4 and 8 Mbit/s access (without the need of an ISP to connect, but still required under the contract and by law) for the same price as 512 kbit/s ADSL connections.
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