Nokia has been selected by Brazilian agricultural machinery manufacturer Jacto to build a private LTE and 5G network at its new ‘smart factory’ in Pompeia, in the province of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The new network will cover the entire factory floor, of 96,000 square metres, and support automated painting, autonomous vehicle handling, and automated storage systems.
Nokia won the gig ahead of “several players in the telecommunications market”, according to Jacto. The LTE part of the new network will use the local 700 MHz band; the 5G part will use the 3.7 GHz band. Nokia is to deploy the large-scale Modular Private Wireless (MPW) version of its private LTE/5G product – rather than the more common Digital Automation Cloud version.
Nokia will handle “installation, configuration, training, and assisted operations”, it said. The installation will be the “first private wireless 5G network for the agricultural machinery industry in Latin America for Jacto”, it added. Jacto has manufacturing plants in Brazil and Argentina, plus Thailand, and a business office in Mexico. It sells agricultural machinery in 100-odd markets.
Fernando Gonçalves, president at Jacto, said: “The new plant will serve both domestic and foreign markets, with product lines for spraying, fertilising, planting, harvesting coffee and sugar cane, in addition to precision agriculture, digital technology and autonomous vehicles. We consulted several players in the telecoms market, and Nokia was the one that presented the best proposal in terms of quality, robustness, and scalability.”
Marcelo Entreconti, head of enterprise for Nokia in Latin America, said: “The agricultural industry has a direct impact on our daily lives and our well-being, and creates a direct sustainable value for our society. Jacto [is] a leader in mechanization technology for agriculture… We are looking forward to expanding our collaboration even further.”
