On the morning of this Friday, 6/17, the Federal Government held the presentation ceremony of the Internet Brasil program, which will have the first phase carried out by RNP, and will provide free mobile broadband connection to low-income children and adolescents in basic education in the public school system. The initiative provides for the delivery and maintenance of up to 700,000 chips with 20Gbs packages for students enrolled in the Single Registry for Social Programs (CadÚnico). The President, Jair Bolsonaro, and the Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, made the symbolic delivery of the chips, in Natal (RN).

“Let's start Internet Brasil. Students will receive a chip so that they can access the internet and their family at home can access the internet on their cell phones. We are going to start with 700,000 people in the coming months and reach 14 million people in the Single Registry, who will have a cell phone at home with a free chip to access content for free”, declared Minister Fábio Farias.

The program was instituted through a provisional measure at the end of 2021 and became law this year. It is financed by the Ministry of Communications (MCom), has the support of the Ministry of Education (MEC) for the contact and use of membership systems, and will be implemented gradually, with the initial stage being the Proof of Concept (PoC). It foresees the distribution of chips with data service (internet) in six municipalities in the Northeast. It is important to point out that neutral e-SIM Cards will be used, which makes it possible to change providers remotely.

For the PoC, six cities that are part of the Connected Northeast were selected:

The calling of RNP by MCOM is mainly due to the expertise acquired in the execution of the Alunos Conectados project, by MEC, which, since the second half of 2020, has been providing chips to university students from the federal network in a situation of socioeconomic vulnerability.

Wi-Fi in the squares through Infovia Potiguar
The Ministry of Communications also extended the free Wi-Fi connection to 48 public squares in Natal, including Praça Mãe Peregrina, where the event took place, through Infovia Potiguar – optical fiber network infrastructure, implemented and operated by RNP, which guarantees quality, high-speed and free internet. About BRL 1.4 million was invested in the delivery.

* With information from ASCOM/MCOM