Oi activates 4G, upgrades telecoms at Brazil's Antarctic station

Rio de Janeiro-based telecom operator Oi activated a 4G LTE network and upgraded the telecommunications systems at Brazil's Antarctic base.

In a video conference, President Jair Bolsonaro inaugurated the new telecommunications services at the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic base (EACF).

The event was attended by representatives of the Brazilian navy and Oi, who formalized a new cooperation agreement to expand and modernize telecommunications services at the Antarctic base.

"We invested in special materials and antennas which have an antifreeze system and are produced by the same manufacturers of [equipment for] airplanes, submarines and military vehicles. Our team worked intensely on the spot to provide a modern network compatible with what we offer in Brazil," Oi CEO Eurico Teles said in a statement.

Investment figures were not disclosed.

Brazilian scientists and military working at the base will now have high-speed fixed internet for data transmission, videoconferencing and connections; mobile network with 4G connection; Wi-Fi access distributed throughout the station facilities; and a TV signal reception system, Oi said.

With 20 times more data transmission capacity, the 4G network will help reduce the isolation of scientists and researchers and allow the transmission of images such as atmospheric observations, among other things.

In February 2012, the Brazilian base was destroyed by a fire that killed two naval officers and destroyed millions of dollars-worth of equipment.

Oi has been providing telecommunications services to the base since 2006, before the fire. In 2013, the telco announced it had partially re-established communications at the base. The agreement between the navy and Oi was renewed for further five years.

Launched in 1984, the station had, prior to the fire, a total area of 2,600m2 which housed dormitories, labs, offices, a nursery, a library, communications rooms, a gym and a helipad.

The base is yet to be fully reactivated.

Upon the completion of the works, the new station will have 4,500 square meters and house 226 containers and 18 laboratories, of which 14 laboratories inside the Station and 4 outside the main building.