Ericsson and Qualcomm have teamed up to deploy a massive Internet of Things infrastructure in Brazil. The partnership follows the country’s recent announcement of a national IoT strategy to spur innovation and economic growth.
The new Ericsson and Qualcomm network and products will cover a range of applications, including agriculture, vehicle and asset tracking, and smart-city programmes. Services will be delivered via Qualcomm’s MDM9206 LTE IoT global multimode modems, said a joint announcement from the companies.
Local division Qualcomm Servicos de Telecomunicacoes plans to launch a reference centre for smart cities in Brazil, where IoT solutions can be tested and demonstrated.
Solutions that are being considered for development include: precision agriculture for increasing soil efficiency and crop productivity; vehicle and cargo tracking, to improve the safety of transported goods and reduce operating costs; and public lighting, traffic, and connectivity programmes for smart cities.
Ericsson and Qualcomm said that the joint efforts would help accelerate and promote the adoption of low-power, wide-area massive IoT connectivity using an existing LTE footprint that is more efficient for IoT buildout and deployment, and supports a shorter time to market between carriers, developers, and other key players.
Smart cities starting point
Eduardo Ricotta, head of Ericsson Brazil, said that broadband is the starting point to make cities smarter. “Mobile networks are the foundation for spreading connectivity to every sector of society, helping in essential questions such as traffic, security and education,” he said.
We can’t lose sight of the fact that every time there is a ten per cent increase in broadband penetration, the country’s GDP increases one per cent.
“We connect agribusinesses, promote smarter cities, and create a platform for more diverse elements of the IoT ecosystem, all while making the country more economically efficient.”
Rafael Steinhauser, president of Qualcomm Latin America, said that with solutions being developed locally, the company has “a great capacity to meet the specific demands of our customers in the region”.
Brazil’s national plan seeks to advance its IoT ambitions across smart cities, agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Internet of Business says
The value of national or regional plans to stimulate growth, focus investment, and transform society from the ground up – literally in the case of smart agriculture – cannot be overstated. In this regard, Brazil joins Portugal, Australia, and many others that are forging ahead with centrally led ‘big picture’ programmes.
The comments about broadband, however, reveal the size of the IoT and digitisation challenges facing countries that are a long way down the global league in terms of network speeds and connectivity. Unfortunately, one such nation is the UK, which barely scrapes into the top 30 for fixed-line speeds, and languishes at 45th for mobile broadband, as our recent report explained.