Structures bring together dozens of antennas in the same location to concentrate signal and resell the connection in regions where optical fiber does not reach
A structure with dozens of Starlink antennas installed on a slab in Tabatinga (AM) exposed an informal model for reselling satellite internet in remote regions of Brazil. Known as “Starlink farms”these installations concentrate individual company connections and redistribute the signal to residents of areas where optical fiber is limited or does not reach.
The video showing these structures in Amazonas went viral on social media on April 23. In the images, dozens of antennas appear installed on a slab. The recording was made by content creator and retired civil servant Luiz Carlos Machado (57), from the channel . Watch (44sec):
“I think it had more than 40 antennas”, said the content creator to Poder360.
According to Luiz, the structure caught his attention because it did not resemble the most common uses of Starlink he observed on previous trips to remote areas. The content creator said that he had already seen the company’s antennas on boats, farm hotels, moving cars and jungle regions, but always in individual applications, hired directly by the user.
In the case seen in Tabatinga, the model would be different. According to the report, the antennas gathered on the slab would capture separate Starlink connections and direct this capacity to a local provider, which would be responsible for redistributing the signal to residents and customers in the region.
“It’s literally a funnel”he states.
The case helps explain why Starlink leads the fixed broadband market in the country’s most rural municipalities. According to the investigation of the Poder360 with data from the (National Telecommunications Agency), the company concentrates 12.8% of service accesses in cities where more than 75% of the population lives outside the urban area.
Starlink’s competitive advantage in these locations is because satellite internet is less dependent on the terrestrial infrastructure required by traditional networks. In remote areas, conventional operators may not operate due to a lack of fiber optic networks.
Starlink, on the other hand, can transmit an internet signal from a single antenna installed on the user’s property – or, in the case of “farms”of several antennas gathered at the same point.
According to Luiz, residents of Tabatinga depend on Starlink or a fiber optic network that comes from Peru and is resold in the triple border region, which also includes Tabatinga, in Brazil, and Letícia, in Colombia. Another option would be internet via radio, but the service is considered unstable in the region.
“There is a very heavy climate there, it rains a lot, a lot of clouds, and this breaks the signal a lot”, stated Luiz.
FARMS ARE IRREGULAR
Despite providing an internet signal to residents of the region, the piles of antennas constitute an irregular practice. Reselling the internet captured by Starlink devices violates the company’s policy, which only allows individual use – for the same household or company.
Furthermore, the practice also conflicts with Anatel rules. The regulatory agency determines that the provision of traffic capacity for internet connection without authorization constitutes clandestine exploitation of telecommunications services.
To sell connections to third parties, the person responsible must be registered as an SCM (Multimedia Communication Service) provider, a category used by Anatel for fixed broadband services. Without this authorization, the resale of the signal may be classified as clandestine exploitation of telecommunications services.
METHODOLOGY
The survey was carried out based on public data on fixed broadband accesses from Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency). The base brings together service accesses reported by SCM (Multimedia Communication Service) providers, the regulatory name used for fixed broadband in Brazil. Each access corresponds to an active connection declared by an operator in a given municipality.
The data released by Anatel, however, differs from that published by Starlink itself. In January this year, the company stated that it had reached the milestone of 1 million customers in Brazil. In the regulatory agency’s records, the operator appeared with 704,761 accesses in March 2026.
Questioned by Poder360 Regarding the discrepancy between the data released by Starlink and the agency’s official records, Anatel stated that the inconsistency may result from the company itself sending incorrect information.
According to the agency, providers must forward the data by the 15th of the month following the period measured. Thus, information relating to January, for example, needs to be sent by February 15th and is published by the end of the same month. Due to this procedure, says Anatel, there is no delay of more than 1 month in the measurement.
O Poder360 asked Starlink, but received no response until the publication of this report. This text will be updated as soon as any comments are received.
The number does not necessarily equate to the total number of users, as the same connection can serve more than one person, household or establishment. It also does not measure the quality of the connection, the speed actually delivered or the company’s degree of territorial coverage.
