The Internet was launched in Brazil in 1988, when the National Research Network (RNP), was formed by the academic communities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.[1] Since its beginnings, including at its introduction to the general public, in 1995, the Brazilian Internet depended strongly on efforts led by the Federal Government, namely via the Ministry of Communications and the state-owned communications company Embratel and its holding, Telebras.[2]
This changed in 1998, as a result of the privatization of Telebras, and the blossoming of private groups, such as Telefónica, Telemar and Brasil Telecom. With the surge of competition for customers, coupled with government-imposed requirements, came improvements in cost, quality and availability of the Internet to Brazilians. Currently, there are about 67 million internet users in Brazil.[3] With the world's fifth-largest population overall, this puts Brazil also with the fifth-largest contingent of internet users.
ADSL was successful in Brazil during beta testing, and became popular in 2000, with the main ISPs being Telefonica (Speedy), Brasil Telecom (Turbo), NET (Virtua) and Telemar (Velox), with typical speeds of around 256 kbit/s down and 128 kbit/s up. Speeds are now between 15 Mbit/s and 35 Mbit/s, but speeds over 50 Mbit/s and 100 Mbit/s are becoming more common now as their prices are getting lower and new ISPS are investing in VDSL and FTTH over the big cities. Broadband access is split between ADSL, cablemodem, satellite, VDSL, FTTH and radio (publicized as 'radio internet', but it is actually a CDMA2000 1xEV-DO hardware solution), with the first WiFi services appearing in 2004.
During the 2000s, limited availabity of high-speed internet in Brazil was a major problem, especially in rural regions. Accordingly, the Brazilian government pressured providers to broaden supply in outlying areas.[4] As of 2010, broadband is available in 88% of Brazilian cities, surpassing all expectations for its expansion.[5] The Ministry of Education has also devised a plan to connect 86% of all public schools to the Internet, with a broadband connection, by 2010.[6]
The Internet is a popular medium for citizen–government interaction. For example, 99% of all income tax forms are delivered online.[7] Correios agencies and government-controlled telepontos are used as access points, and are specially relevant in remote locations. LAN centers, known by the anglicised name LAN House, are common and widespread throughout the country.[8]
Brazilian websites take the .br code, which is overseen by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee. Some of the most popular websites are web portals, such as Globo.com, UOL and iG; search engines, including Google and Yahoo; and social network services, the most important of which, by far, is Orkut.[9] MSN Messenger, the most popular IM service, has Brazilians as its largest userbase.[10] Due to the popularity of virtual communications, Newsweek referred to Brazil as the "Schmooze Nation".[11]
Contents |
The Internet access companies push for a distinction between an "Internet Content Provider", which provides e-mail accounts and other peripheral services (Terra Networks is an example of Internet Content 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. 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.
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.
The lack of sufficient infrastructure for the Telefônica (Speedy) ISP in 2009 has led to failure of service in certain areas during periods. This incurred in its sales being prohibited in 2009 by ANATEL, and remaining so until it goes through a process of major expansion and rejuvenation.
|
||||||||