Brazil’s Santos port sees private 5G network fully operational by 2028

Brazil’s Santos port, South America’s busiest, reached an agreement to develop a private 5G network at the complex within 36 months, port administrator APS said in a statement. 

The agreement was formalized on January 27 with Itaipu Parquetec (PTI), linked to the 14GW Itaipu Binacional hydro dam shared with Paraguay, and comes almost three years after the port authority announced plans for a dedicated 5G network.

In August 2022, BNamericas learned that APS was in talks with three consultancies to develop the network and be the project integrator. 

The three companies were telecom-focused consultancy firms CelPlan Brasil, Lynce Consultoria and Brain Innovation. 

Plans at that time were to file a license with regulator Anatel, dubbed limited private service (SLP), by the end of the year. 

Now the port says the project will advance over the next three years in a phased manner. 

PTI is an innovation ecosystem belonging to Itaipu, in the state of Paraná, that brings together educational institutions, companies and government agencies.

APS did not provide details on how this partnership will work. BNamericas learned that PTI will act as a kind of consultant for the port's private network project based on its own experience.

The park already has a 5G network in place, with mobile infrastructure provided by Nokia.

That project was the result of an agreement between Nokia, PTI, Itaipu Binacional and ABDI to offer telecom infrastructure for the development of applications, products and devices in industry 4.0.

Together with TIM, Nokia also deployed a private 5G network for Brasil Terminal Portuário (BTP), one of the largest terminals at Santos port.

Stages

At Santos port, implementation is expected to begin in areas such as the naval inspection point, the port authority headquarters and the Valongo area where the port is located.

During the implementation of the network, APS said it plans to conduct proofs-of-concept to validate applications such as underwater cameras and drones, aerial surveillance drones, automated access control systems and monitoring equipment for perimeter security.