Brazilian regional operator Sercomtel has teamed up with Nokia and Brazilian agricultural research corporation Embrapa and launched 5G connectivity pilot projects in Brazil to develop technological services for the agribusiness sector, according to media reports. The project is supported by the state of Parana, along with the federal ministries of communication and agriculture.
A 5G standalone antenna has been installed by Sercomtel at 3.5 GHz at the Embrapa-Soja unit in Londrina. The equipment is supplied by Nokia and the activation took place on August 12. This event was part of a series of pilots developed in the country to show the potential of the application of 5G technology in urban and rural areas.
Minister Tereza Cristina told the media, “In addition to serving Embrapa Soja, we consider Londrina to be a center for technological development through its innovation hub, more focused on startups. 5G will revolutionise Brazilian agro. We are going to democratise technology and innovation for all Brazilian states.”
Minister of communication Fábio Salustino said that Brazil has 40 million people without the internet and 5G has the potential to change that. He also mentioned that any area above 600 inhabitants will receive the internet and all cities above 30,000 inhabitants will receive 5G AS. By July next year, all capitals will receive the 5G AS.
Recently, Nokia was selected by United Group to deliver its cloud-native core network products in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia. This makes Nokia the only vendor for United in these countries, thereby expanding the business relations between the two companies. Nokia will provide several products, including Subscriber Data Management (SDM) software to securely and reliably control UG network data and it will also integrate multi-vendor and multi-technology environments.