Companies have signed a partnership to bring fast internet to 13 municipalities in the state;Brasil BioFuels produces palm in five of them By Camila Souza Ramos - From São Paulo
Brasil BioFuels (BBF), a palm oil and biodiesel producer, has agreed a partnership with Telefônica Brasil, owner of Vivo, to install a 4G internet network in an area in the north of the country that covers almost 170,000 hectares. The network will cover 13 municipalities in Pará. BBF grows oil palm or has agro-industrial operations in five of them.
The project includes Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) and Long Term Evolution forMachines (LTE-M) networks, which are specific for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. The first tower will be installed in Acará (PA) and should start operating in December of this year.
The BBF network will have a total of 23 towers in cities in the northeast of the state, including Barcarena, where one of the ports that make up the Arco Norte grain distribution network is located. The installations will take place until March 2024.
The 4G signal will cover an area more than twice as large as BBF's current palm-growing area of just over 68,000 hectares. The remaining 100,000 hectares of coverage also includes 350 families that supply raw materials to BBF, as well as other communities.
According to the company's president, Milton Steagall, with the network, BBF expects to achieve operational improvements by expanding agricultural automation, fleet and fruit origin tracking, and climate monitoring.
The company became the largest palm oil producer in Latin America after the purchase of Biopalma in 2020. It has two palm crushing units in Pará and a third in the North, in addition to soybean crushing, biodiesel industry, 25 thermoelectric plants in operation and 13 under implementation.
See the full story here
