Claro, Embratel to deploy private Brazilian network for French firm Tereos

América Móvil’s Claro Brasil will deploy a dedicated 4G network to cover sugarcane fields managed by French commodity conglomerate Tereos in Brazil.

The project will be carried out in partnership with Embratel, Claro’s sister company focused on the B2B segment, and with Sol Internet of People, a startup focused on IoT and rural connectivity solutions.

The rollout is expected to be completed within a year. The number of antennas to be installed has not been revealed.

Tereos operates a sugarcane production area of around 300,000ha, including its own areas and those of partners.

For the project, Embratel will provide its Campo Conectado suite to bring Claro's connectivity to Tereos' fields.

“Through the Campo Conectado solution, several antennas will be installed in strategic production areas belonging to the company and its partners in the interior of São Paulo, significantly expanding cellular coverage in the operations,” Claro and Embratel said in a statement. 

As part of the contract, Tereos will also rely on Embratel's network management center for agribusiness to manage signal quality and availability 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the firms said.

SOL, CLOUD AND MORE

Sol Internet of People reports over 100 customers and around 3mn hectares served in seven Brazilian states. 

This week, the startup announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for a new agricultural data management platform using artificial intelligence.

This cloud-based tool is expected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2024.

One of AWS's data and cloud customers in the agribusiness sector is Tereos itself. 

Tereos' digital and analytics push in Brazil started in 2017, beginning with a supply chain project involving production, inventory and sales. Subsequently, it evolved into more strategic initiatives in the agricultural, industrial and commercial areas.

In 2018, Tereos selected AWS as its main cloud provider in Brazil and in 2019 launched its industry 4.0 program at the Cruz Alta unit, the group's largest Brazilian plant, in Olímpia, São Paulo state, João Toqueti, Tereos’ business service center and procurement manager in Brazil, told BNamericas last year. 

For its front-office operations, Tereos relies on AWS cloud, which stores and processes around 70TB of the company’s data, according to the executive.

Information from agricultural equipment in the field is collected through IoT sensors. Images are also generated by drones, satellites and data from weather stations.

The program also led to the creation of a digital twin, a virtual replica of Tereos' industrial operation. 

As of last year, the model analyzed and correlated around 350 data sources from sensors and other legacy systems.