Internet in Brazil was launched in 1988, becoming commercially available in May 1995. As of October 2025, Brazil ranked fifth in the world with 185 million internet users. The country had an internet penetration rate of 86.6% as of January 2024. In December 2025, Brazil ranked 26th in the Ookla Broadband Ranking (fixed broadband), with a median speed of 222.06 Mbit/s. Also, as per December 2021, Brazil had 41,4 million fixed broadband accesses, most of them FTTH. However, as per 2020, most Brazilians access the Internet through a mobile connection, with more than 200 million mobile internet access (104 accesses/100 inhabitants).
History Late 1969, one of many offices funded by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) invested in a project that expanded the knowledge of network connectivity to many globally sponsored universities and research institutions, including Brazil.
In 1979, Brazilian universities collaborated their knowledge of computer networks and created the National Laboratory of Computer Networks(LARC) to trade information within local laboratories.
By 1984, LARC focused on providing network links to institutions in Rio de Janeiro by organizing the Rede-Rio Project.
For LARC to guarantee their institution network connections, they traveled to Berlin, Germany, in June 1985 to examine the academic network connections Germany had with its institutions and conclude that they sustained the OSI protocols, which led LARC also to make their network OSI compatible.
In 1987, representatives of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo held meetings to advance academic network conventions.
In 1988 the National Research Network (RNP), was formed by the academic communities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Since its beginnings, including its introduction to the general public in 1995, the Brazilian Internet depended strongly on efforts led by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications, the state-owned communications company Embratel and its holding, Telebras.A Trajetória da Internet no Brasil: do surgimento das redes de computadores à instituição dos mecanismos de governança (The Trajectory of the Internet in Brazil: The emergence of computer networks for government institutions), Marcelo Sávio Revoredo Menezes de Carvalho, Masters dissertation, Coppe/Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, September 2006.
This changed in 1998, as a result of the privatization of Telebras, and the blossoming of private companies, such as Telefônica, Telemar and Brasil Telecom. With the surge of competition for customers, coupled with government-imposed requirements, came improvements in cost, quality, and availability of the Internet to Brazilians.
ADSL was successful in Brazil during beta testing and became popular in the early 2000s, being offered by Telefónica (Speedy), Brasil Telecom (Turbo), NET (Virtua), and Telemar (Velox) with typical speeds of around 256 kbit/s down and 128 kbit/s up when introduced. Speeds in the early 2010s were between 15 and 1 Mbit/s down and up and 35 and 3 Mbit/s down and up, but speeds over 50 and 5 Mbit/s down and up and 100 and 20 Mbit/s down and up were becoming more common as prices fall and new ISPs such as Global Village Telecom (acquired by Spanish Telefónica in 2014) invested in VDSL2 and FTTH in the larger cities. Broadband access is split between ADSL, cable modem, satellite, VDSL, VDSL2, FTTH, and wireless Internet service providers (often called 'radio internet'), with the first WiFi services appearing in 2004.
During the first decade of the 21st century, limited availability of high-speed Internet in Brazil was a major problem, especially in rural regions. Accordingly, the Brazilian government pressured providers to broaden supply in outlying areas."Governo prepara plano nacional para banda larga" (Government prepares national plan for broadband), Julio Wiziack, Folha de S.Paulo, 28 August 2009. (English translation) Wireless LAN ISPs are becoming more common in the interior of the country. In large cities some WiFi hotspots are also available.
By November 2005, some cable companies were offering 2, 4, and 8 Mbit/s access for the same price as 512 kbit/s ADSL connections.
In April 2008 the Broadband in Schools program was launched to benefit 37 million students by bringing high speed Internet access to 64,879 urban public schools by the end of 2010."Broadband internet will soon be installed in all urban public schools", Jorge Wamburg, English translation by Allen Bennett, Agencia Brasil, 6 April 2010
In 2009 a lack of sufficient infrastructure for the Telefônica (Speedy) ISP led to periodic service failures in some areas. Sales were suspended by the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications (ANATEL) until a process of major infrastructure expansion and rejuvenation was completed.
In 2010, broadband Internet access was available in 88% of Brazilian cities, surpassing all expectations for its expansion."Banda larga chega a 88% dos municípios no Brasil, diz Anatel" (Broadband reaches 88% of municipalities in Brazil, Anatel says), Folha de S.Paulo, 13 January 2010 By 2016, it was expected that the Internet will have 57% of penetration in Brazil; by 2017 this value has risen to 64,7%.
In 2016 and 2017, major internet providers announced their interest in introducing data caps, a decision that was met with major backlash; for the time being, the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications has not allowed this and "does not plan to reopen the debate on fixed broadband caps".
In 2020, there were statistics that showed that 58% of the country population access the Internet solely through their smartphone, a number even higher in the lower income classes.
The internet in Brazil is dominated by three main internet service providers: Vivo, Claro, and TIM. As of the third quarter of 2024, Vivo maintains 36.63% of mobile broadband market shares, with Claro at 34.83% and TIM at 24.94%.
Use Brazil uses the .br top level domain, which is managed by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee."Services" , Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), accessed 25 September 2012 In 2011 Brazil ranked fourth in the world with 23,456,00 Internet hosts."Internet hosts", CIA World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, accessed 2 April 2012 In April 2012 Brazil was 10th in the world with 48,572,160 IPv4 addresses allocated, 23.6 per 100 residents.Select Formats , Country IP Blocks. Accessed on 2 April 2012. Note: Site is said to be updated daily.
The Internet is a popular medium for citizen–government interaction. For example, as per 2009, 99% of all income tax forms were delivered online."Veja as desvantagens de fazer a declaração do IR em papel" (See the disadvantages of doing tax returns on paper), Ligia Guimarães, Globo.com, 3 April 2009. (English translation)
Some of the most popular websites are web portals, such as Globo.com, UOL and iG; search engines, including Google and Yahoo; and social network services, the most important of which, by far, is Facebook."Top Sites in Brazil" , Alexa Due to the popularity of virtual communications, Newsweek referred to Brazil as the "Schmooze Nation"."Schmooze Nation", Newsweek, 18 September 2007 In 2
Internet service providers Vivo (a subsidiary of Spain's Telefónica, through the Telefônica Brasil) launched, in São Paulo, its FTTH service in 3Q 2007 with initial speeds of 30, 60, and 100 Mbit/s downstream, and 5 Mbit/s upstream. Also available is an IPTV on-demand service and a convergent POTS and mobile pack. In June 2007 Telefónica was reported to have fibre coverage of a potential 400,000 households with 20,000 signed up for service. From 2012 on, it adopted the brand "Vivo Fibra" for its FTTH broadband services. In 1Q2023 the company reported having 5.7 million homes connected with FTTH in the country. Vivo Fibra is available in 436 Brazilian cities and, since 2022, offers FTTH plans with speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s download (500 Mbit/s upload).Telefônica Brasil PR Oi was the second ISP to offer FTTH, in January 2009. The service is now marketed in all Brazilian states. Oi is now offering its own FTTH operation, in its original service area and recently started in a few cities in the state of São Paulo. Oi claimed to have 4.0 million homes connected with FTTH in 1Q2023 offering FTTH plans with speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s download (500 Mbit/s upload)."Oi 1Q2023 Earnings Presentation" Claro (belonging to Mexican telecommunication corporation America Móvil) acquired Net Serviços de Comunicações, which provided Cable TV services in big and medium cities in Brazil. With a HFC network, they have been delivering speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s download (100 Mbit/s upload). Since 2019, new network installs are being done using fiber; as of 2022, however, the company does not plan to discontinue the existing HFC network, which has about 9 million users. In 1Q2023 Claro had about 1 million broadband customers served by FTTH, offering FTTH plans with speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s download (500 Mbit/s upload)."Teleco - Fixed Broadband in Brazil" TIM (a subsidiary of Italian company TIM Group) started offering FTTH broadband in 2012, initially only in some neighborhoods in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Over the years the company's offer expanded and in 1Q2023 it served around 600 thousand customers in 10 states with speeds of up to 2 Gbit/s download (1 Gbit/s upload). Global Village Telecom (GVT) launched, in August 2009, FTTH service in 56 cities, including the major markets of Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Salvador. GVT offer speeds up to 100 Mbit/s downstream and 10 Mbit/s upstream. In October 2010 GVT reported a broadband subscriber base of one million users, around 60% of whom are hooked up to 10 Mbit/s or higher Internet connection."Global Village Telecom boasts one million broadband users", TeleGeography, 12 October 2010 GVT was acquired by Telefónica in 2014. Many small and regional ISPs offer FTTH service, either in new areas not previously covered or as a replacement for older Internet access technologies such as DSL and fixed wireless. Often these ISPs operate in areas not covered by larger providers. In 1Q2023, smaller ISPs accounted for 63.4% of the FTTH market in Brazil, serving around 20 million customers. Smaller operators like Unifique, Vero, and Desktop are gaining traction through acquisitions, particularly in underserved or rural areas where the big players may not be able to provide localized services. New entrants like Brisanet, Unifique, and Desktop have established strong footholds in less densely populated regions. Brazil also has a small MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) scene managed by Anatel. The largest MVNO provider is Datora which sits at around 2.7 thousand users.
Some ISPs have their equipment damaged or stolen by militias or gangs who then sell Internet services to locals, using force to prevent the original equipment owners from reclaiming or repairing infrastructure. These efforts have been described as an extension of previous criminal activities that took control of water and electricity infrastructure in poor neighborhoods.
User base Brazil has the fifth largest number of internet users in the world, behind China, India, The United States, and Indonesia. As of January 2023, Brazil had a total of 177 million internet users, which is about a 1.05% increase from 2022. The proportion of users accessing the Internet via mobile phones, desktop computers, tablets, and consoles were 55.46%, 43.81%, 0.60%, and 0.13%, respectively. 86% of women had access to the internet while 83% of males had access.