Uruguay authorizes Amazon to offer low-orbit satellite services

Uruguayan telecoms regulator Ursec authorized Amazon to provide satellite services to telecommunications licensees via its non-geostationary satellite network.

The permission also includes the installation and operation of a fixed earth station (gateway) in Montevideo department.

The company was also authorized to install and operate subscriber satellite terminal stations through telecommunications licensees that have authorization to provide satellite transmission services, and install terminals for mobile backhaul service.

Amazon plans to have a constellation of 3,236 low-orbit satellites that will operate in the Ka band. Half of the satellites in this constellation should be in operation by July 2026, with plans to complete the constellation in 2029.

In Uruguay, subsidiary Amazon Kuiper Uruguay put two test satellites (KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2) into operation and plans to begin commercial operations in the country in October 2025.

STARLINK AND ONEWEB

Two other low-orbit constellations are also scheduled to begin operations in Uruguay this year.

Elon Musk's company Starlink is set to start operations in Uruguay in the third quarter of this year, when it will also begin operating in Argentina. In both markets, the service can now be reserved starting with a payment of US$9.

Starlink offers services in most of Latin America at a monthly price of US$60. The cost of ground equipment for signal reception is around US$500.

Meanwhile, OneWeb plans to begin operating in Latin America in January 2024, when the company plans to have the terrestrial infrastructure, licenses and satellite coverage completed.

Unlike Starlink, which has services for residential and direct-to-cell customers, OneWeb will focus exclusively on business, corporate and government customers. Terminals for the OneWeb service can cost between US$3,000 and US$18,000.