Aerial view of the Amazon river and rainforest, near Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

[Via Satellite 06-30-2015] Via Direta Telecom, a subsidiary of TV and radio broadcast group Rede Tiradentes de Telecomunicações, has selected VT iDirect’s Evolution platform to support Brazil’s largest distance-learning program. The Amazon State’s secretary of education has commissioned Rede Tiradentes to create a distance-learning program to reach the entire country. The program will use satellite to connect roughly 45,000 students situated across hundreds of municipalities along the rivers of the Amazon basin with teachers located in Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas. Via Direta will operate the hub on behalf of Rede Tiradentes.

Via Direta will use iDirect’s Evolution platform and X1 remotes to offer Internet access, long-distance learning programs and virtual tools that provide interactivity between isolated communities. According to iDirect, the company’s remote commissioning solution, Satmotion Pocket, will be pivotal in supporting the aggressive installation schedule. Upon completion, the network will consist of 1,300 VSAT stations.

“Government data shows that only about one-third of all children in Brazil make it to the sixth grade,” said Rob Kilroy, regional vice president of sales, iDirect. “Beyond education, access to high-speed broadband will also introduce a world of new social and economic capabilities to the residents of Brazil that will change the quality of life for generations to come.”