RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – High-speed and reliable internet is not new for Brazilian cities. The availability of public Wi-Fi is constantly increasing especially in the major cities and the tourist destinations of the country. The availability of public Wi-Fi from public parks and coffee shops is available for the users.
The Extensive Coverage Of Public Wi-Fi In Brazil
The coverage of public Wi-Fi in Brazil can be described as fairly good. On top of that, both government and private enterprises are working to improve the availability of public Wi-Fi hotspots in the country and this holds true, especially for the areas that lack internet connectivity or have poor internet connectivity.
Currently, the free Wi-Fi network with the satellite-based internet has more than 14,000 hotspots. These hotspots serve 3,000 Brazilian municipalities and most of these municipalities lie either in the North or Northeast of Brazil.
The public Wi-Fi hotspots have proven to be extremely helpful for the various stakeholders of the country. For example, 11,000 schools use this public Wi-Fi along with 1,000 healthcare facilities and 475 indigenous communities.
Last year, in order to improve the coverage of public Wi-Fi in Brazil, an agreement was signed between the Banco do Brasil Foundation and the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service with the Ministry of Communications of Brazil.
It is expected that the outcome of the agreement will result in 500 new Wi-Fi hotspots by the end of this year and will benefit approximately 1,000 locations in the country. In total, the 500 hotspots will be helpful for 8.5 million Brazilian citizens.
This agreement not only will work towards fixing the internet connectivity issue but will also provide online content on education and culture and will give the power to the users to access digital art exhibits.
Internet Speed Is Improving In Brazil
With the availability of both public and private Wi-Fi services, the focus is also shifting towards improving the internet speed in the country. According to the data of Speedtest Global Index of 2021, Brazil ranks 49th in terms of fixed broadband speed and 74th for the mobile speed, globally.
The fixed broadband speed has seen a massive improvement in the country and the same is visible from the fact that in April 2020, it ranked 56th but the rank improved to 49th position in just a year. In addition to that, Brazil is also ready to embrace the 5G internet.
In Latin America, Brazil has the second-fastest fixed broadband speed and is placed only after Chile. The average download speed of the fixed broadband is 50.64 Mbps and the upload speed is 26.37 Mbps.
You can check the internet speed of your Wi-Fi on Speed Test and Vivo. Out of all the fixed broadband providers, Vivo has created a benchmark by ensuring the fastest fixed broadband speed for Brazilians. The fastest median download speed of Vivo was reported to be 68.25 MBps and the upload speed is 52.72 Mbps.
Claro topped the list when it came to the competition of providing the fastest median mobile download and upload speed with 27.54 Mbps download speed and 8.77 Mbps upload speed.
It is expected there will be further improvement in the mobile internet speed because of the 5G technology once it is deployed. The 5G network will not only dramatically improve the experience of the customers but will also prove to be extremely beneficial for companies and businesses too.
How The Extension Of Public Wi-Fi Will Be Helpful In Brazil?
As discussed in the previous section, the extension of public Wi-Fi will help serve 1,000 locations in the country. With the availability of the internet, many other additional things can be improved. For instance, an extension of public Wi-Fi in Brazil is believed to increase the financial inclusion of different communities with the help of digital channels.
This will also be particularly helpful for entrepreneurs as doing business in today’s world requires internet connectivity. The focus will include support to accelerate growth digitally for micro and small businesses.
Digital adoption has increased in Brazil and in the near future, one can expect to see more expansion of the public Wi-Fi network along with better internet speed in the regions that already have internet connectivity. Brazil is currently an interesting market for watching internet performance.