Ericsson helps Nestlé deploy first
private 5G network in Latin America
In Latin America, the emergence of
IoT and edge computing has made 5G adoption an imperative in almost every facet
of new technology. With this emergence comes the need for higher data
processing speed, more network reliability, ultra-low latency and huge network
capacity. All these requirements are mostly driven by edge computing and 5G
networks.
Source. Tech Republic
Ericsson’s latest 5G deployment at
Nestle may be laying a foundation for the rapid growth of industry 4.0 across
Latin America.
The Latin America edge computing
market is expected to reach $440 million by 2023, with an expected CAGR growth
of 31.1 percent. A recent GSMA Intelligence consumer survey forecasts the
growing demand for 5G networks in Latin America. The survey points out that the
5G market in Latin America is heating up and consumers are willing to pay extra
for their 5G mobile subscription compared with what they pay for their current
4G subscription.
In light of this technology market
reality, the region’s first private 5G standalone network architecture, which
operates separately from the public mobile network, has been unveiled by a
partnership between Ericsson, Nestlé and communication service providers —
Claro and Embratel.
This digital transformation will
drive more 5G deployment and adoption across South America. In addition, the
Ericsson Private 5G network solution is expected to enhance fast data
processing, with a network data transfer speed that will be 24 times higher
than what 4G provided.
A 5G solution designed to support
industry 4.0 technologies
The release of the Ericsson Private
5G solution is expected to support industry 4.0 technologies, all of which
require ultra-short response time to run successfully. Furthermore, with
reports suggesting a tremendous growth in Latin America’s edge and cloud
computing, more data will be generated and consumed by connected devices. As a
result, industry 4.0 will need an increase in network capacity to run at full
scale.
Although Ericsson is the current
name in the news in Latin America’s 5G network market, other 5G operators like
América Móvil Mexico, Vivo Brazil and Telecom Argentina are also pushing hard
to penetrate the Latin American 5G market.
How this partnership intends to
drive 5G adoption in Latin America
Although headquartered in the
Swedish capital of Stockholm, Ericsson is a company with a global presence in
the networking and telecommunications industry. The Ericsson-Nestlé 5G
deployment is a move to revamp Nestlé’s manufacturing environment in Latin
America.
In recent years, Nestlé has dug
deeper into utilizing emerging technologies such as robotics, automation,
artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive their manufacturing. With
the Ericsson 5G network in place, Nestlé’s digital ecosystem intends to become
even more robust, reliable and comprehensive, enabling new use cases.
From this move, it is possible that other companies looking to automate their manufacturing process with IoT, 5G and edge computing can begin to adopt 5G technology. Emphasizing how this partnership will drive the future of Nestlé, Marcelo Melchior, CEO of Nestlé Brazil, announced that “Nestlé’s national operation will be a reference in an unprecedented project in which it will be able to perceive the benefits of 5G for industry 4.0.”
Talking about how the partnership
will stimulate more growth opportunities across Latin America, Nestlé’s Digital
Transformation Manager, Gustavo Moura, stated that “5G private networks provide
a new reality for the industry. For us, the benefits include changing and
simplifying the factory’s physical environment and the ability to connect a
large number of devices to the same network in the region.”
5G and the future of industry 4.0 in
Latin America
Supported and powered by other
technologies such as IoT, edge computing, cloud computing and AI/ML, the future
of industry 4.0 in Latin America may not be complete without deploying 5G
networks across manufacturing industries. There are high expectations that this
launch will be a catalyst, not just for Nestlé but in other manufacturing industries.
In addition, the solution holds
great potential to provide scalability and effectively handle high volumes of
IoT-connect devices expected to be on the rise in the coming years across the
region. As industry 4.0 continues to evolve in Latin America, we may witness
more partnerships between more 5G private network providers and businesses.