Bolivia, which relies on a Chinese-built satellite for some of its connectivity, banned Starlink — but that hasn’t stopped people from smuggling the device into the country.

Only 73% of Bolivians had internet access in 2022, lagging behind neighboring Brazil and Chile, where more than 80% and nearly 89% of the population is online, respectively. Bolivia also has the slowest internet speed in all of Latin America.

Fed up with the state-run internet infrastructure, which relies on the Chinese satellite Túpac Katari 1 in some measure, Bolivians have been turning to Starlink, which was banned in August. The government has said it is “promoting more dynamic and transparent regulations to lower the bureaucratic barriers” to improve wireless communications. But critics say it is not feasible to hold out against Starlink or other Western telecommunications providers when the state is unable to meet the requirement for reliable internet.

High-speed internet “is an essential foundation for the country’s development and a priority that we cannot continue to postpone,” Mariela Baldivieso, an independent lawmaker campaigning to regularize Starlink, told Rest of World. In October, Baldivieso, who chairs the science and technology committee in the legislature, requested an explanation from regulators regarding their decision to “disable” Starlink, but has yet to receive a response, she said.

Only 56% of Bolivians have fixed broadband connections, with around 90% going online via their mobile phones, largely through the state-owned Entel, which rents bandwidth from the national space agency. While there are no official numbers, Zambrana estimates that only 10% of the national territory has mobile coverage, largely concentrated in urban centers. In rural areas, people regularly walk to the tops of nearby hills in search of a signal or make do with no network at all.

It is little wonder then that desperate Bolivians have resorted to smuggling in Starlink kits across the country’s porous borders. On Facebook pages, sellers in Peru and Chile — where Starlink is legally available — promise direct delivery, while other users travel abroad to buy them, returning home with the kits stuffed in their carry-on bags.