Bolivia lifts restrictions on satellite companies like Starlink to upgrade its internet connectivity

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia’s new government on Tuesday issued a decree that will allow global satellite internet companies such as Starlink or Kuiper to provide internet access across the Andean nation as it tries to upgrade its technology and speed up its notoriously slow connectivity rates.

Bolivia’s centrist President Rodrigo Paz signed the decree, which waives the restrictions placed on international satellite companies by the socialist administration of his predecessor, Luis Arce.

Last year, Arce’s government refused to grant a license to SpaceX, which owns Starlink, to operate in Bolivia, citing data protection and national sovereignty concerns.

For years, Bolivia has tried to improve internet access in remote areas with a satellite purchased from China during the government of left-wing leader Evo Morales. When the satellite was acquired in 2013, Morales promised it would “enlighten the people, after years of living in obscurity.”

However, the Chinese satellite, known as the Tupac Katari, failed to significantly speed up internet connections on mobile phones or in homes, because it relies on geostationary technology and orbits Earth at a distance of about 35,000 kilometers (about 21,800 miles) from the surface.

In contrast, satellites used by Starlink orbit the planet at a distance of 550 kilometers (some 340 miles). Modern satellites used by Starlink and its competitors stay closer to Earth, which enables them to transmit data at faster rates.

A report published in November by Ookla, a connectivity intelligence company, found that Bolivia had the slowest internet speed for mobile phones and fixed broadband in South America. Brazil is the regional leader in internet speed.

On Tuesday, the Bolivian president said that by granting licenses to international satellite companies, he is hoping to “reduce the digital divide” and guarantee access to high quality connectivity for Bolivians.

The slow connectivity rates in Bolivia stymie simple tasks such as conference calls, and also make it harder to conduct more complex operations online, including cloud computing.

“We became spectators while the rest of the world advanced,” said Paz, who was elected in October. “But that is over. With new technologies we will be able to make up for lost time.”

Paz also said international companies — including Tesla, Amazon, Tether and Orcacle — plan to invest in data centers that Bolivia will set up near the cities of El Alto and Cochambamba.

The president has been trying to draw international investment to Bolivia, as part of an effort to overcome an economic crisis, characterized by severe shortages of U.S. dollars.

Earlier this week, Paz signed a decree to eliminate fuel subsidies that had hobbled public finances and worsened the dollar shortages. Labor unions across the Andean nation took to the streets on Monday to protest the elimination of the fuel subsidies.