TIM signed an agreement with Agropalma, considered one of the largest producers of sustainable palm oil in Latin America, to bring more connectivity to the countryside. The cell company will initially bring 4G coverage to one of the company’s main farms, located in Tailândia, Para. The rural property has 107 thousand hectares, 39 thousand of which are palm cultivation. The rest is forest reserve.

The agreement, exclusively anticipated by EXAME, was closed this Thursday, 28th during Agrishow 2022, the largest agribusiness fair in Brazil, which is taking place in Ribeirão Preto (SP) until Friday, 29th — watch below:

“We are very pleased with this unprecedented partnership in the sector”, said Alexandre Dal Forno, director of IoT & 5G market development at TIM. “Agropalma’s farms will have access to the 4G connectivity necessary to enable features that can make a difference in the routine of activities in the countryside and tap into the full potential of the Internet of things, including organic plantation, area monitoring and truck tracking.”

The project also provides for the connectivity of six industries for the extraction of palm and palm kernel oil, extracted from the almond of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineenses from Agropalma. In total, more than 120 thousand hectares will have access to 4G technology and two thousand people should be impacted, according to TIM.

“A few years ago, we had the challenge of connecting our plant in Tailândia, and luckily we were able to count on TIM”, highlighted Marcos Costa, chief financial officer of Agropalma. “Connectivity will leverage business expansion and will be decisive to meet the demand for digital inclusion from local producers”.

Agropalma announced plans to expand production by 50% by the year 2025. To meet this objective, the company reinforced investments in new technologies, such as crop monitoring drones and new methodologies for applying fertilizers and correcting the soil’s pH level. The company’s revenue reached R$ 1.4 billion in 2020, 40% more than in 2019. In 2021, it continued to expand, although they have not revealed numbers.

TIM, in turn, has been investing heavily in connectivity in the countryside. In March, the cell company inaugurated 5G at one of the largest soybean farms in the country, Ipê, located in Baixa Grande do Ribeiro, Piauí. It is the first rural property to rely on the technology. The inauguration of the site’s signal operation was attended by Communications Minister Fabio Faria, who held the 5G auction at the end of last year, and President Jair Bolsonaro. “The farm, with TIM’s 5G, will make our agribusiness, which is already so thriving, much bigger,” said Faria at the time.

In 2021, TIM recorded a profit of almost R$ 3 billion, a result 60% higher than that obtained in 2020, while net revenue grew by 4.6 percent, reaching around R$ 18 billion last year.

Source: Exame