Agriculture: countryside will gain 4 million hectares with internet in 2024 – 12/22/2023 – Market

The country’s rural area should gain at least another four million hectares with internet connection next year, especially in the Center-West and in the states of Matopiba (Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí and Bahia), but also with growth expected in the South .

With 16 million hectares connected in the last four years, TIM expects to reach 20 million by the end of 2024. The telephone company participates in the ConectarAgro association, a program that involves companies – many of them competitors – with the aim of expanding connectivity in the countryside .

The connection is essential not only for people to talk to each other, but also for companies to be able to know in real time telemetry data from agricultural machines in operation, to monitor the movement of the fleet, to know precisely where the drones are and where to go. monitor meteorological information, among other points.

However, as around 70% of the country’s rural areas lack internet access, rural properties are unable to use all the resources available on their machines.

The 16 million hectares already covered are distributed across 676 municipalities in 14 states and, according to Alexandre Dal Forno, director of market development IoT (internet of things, in English) and 5G at TIM Brasil, the growth area predicted for 2024 will be concentrates on large rural properties.

The company closed its first deal in Paraná – also the first in the South region – with Usina Dacalda, in Jacarezinho (about 400 km from Curitiba), which produces ethanol and sugar and will have its 9,000 hectares connected.

“They [os novos negócios] they are dispersed, mainly in regions with more extensive crops, as has been the case until today. Mato Grosso and Matopiba. This project in Paraná opened up a range of opportunities for companies in the state, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina”, says the executive.

The connection uses a 4G antenna, which operates at a frequency of 700 MHz. This frequency became available after the gradual shutdown of the analogue TV signal in the country and farms began to be connected through it in 2019.

In addition to TIM, ConectarAgro includes Vivo, Nokia, Bayer, Trimble and agricultural machinery manufacturers such as Case, New Holland, Massey Ferguson, Valtra and Fendt.

“We are in a region of very high productivity, we have soil with very high production. In São Paulo we have sugarcane with five, six cuts, and [no Paraná] We have 15 cuts of sugarcane, producing three times as much”, says Dacalda’s executive director, José Luiz Mosca Junior.

“Our biggest challenge is that we are in a region that is not covered by any telephone operator”, he states.

According to him, difficulties due to the lack of operators are frequent on a daily basis. “I’m going to sign a contract and, in the new contracts that we see on the internet, I receive a token via SMS. I have to do all the logistics, for my secretary to take my cell phone, run to a place that gives a small signal, I receive the SMS, I say ok , something that seems so simple for those who are in an area of ​​the city, or in a well-lit region, for us it becomes a challenge and an immense logistics of how to operationalize it”, he says.

Mosca Junior states that connectivity will allow the monitoring of vehicles, machines and agricultural implements, with data on fuel consumption and the time the vehicle was stopped. “Without a signal, how can you manage it in real time?” he asks.

The system is expected to begin operations in February. A telephone tower will be installed in the plant area, which employs 850 employees. As the signal opens, 170 surrounding rural properties will benefit.

There are other initiatives outside the association with the aim of expanding the connection network in the field.

Claro, for example, develops with John Deere, another giant machine manufacturer, and the startup Sol a program called Campo Conectado.

The project has already reached more than 4 million hectares with 3G/4G coverage in the country and has another 3 million planned. Companies invest in installing the towers and the producer pays for the use of the service, with a loyalty period.

According to ConectarAgro, farmers can save up to 15% in costs using digital tools such as smart spraying and irrigation systems.