Only 63% of rural Spain has 100 Mbps broadband coverage, compared to 87% for Spain as a whole. These are data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transition, from mid-2020. The digital divide exists, and the problems it causes have become more evident as society as a whole was digitized: fewer telework options, more time spent on administrative procedures , limited or non-existent online education, difficulties for ecommerce … Delays in economic productivity that deepen the depopulation problems of a large part of the Spanish territory: the population between 0 and 4 years old and those between 20 and 34 years old have decreased by more than 20% between 2011 and 2020 in rural municipalities, defined as those with populations below 30,000 people and with a density of less than one hundred inhabitants per square kilometer.
As Somaya El-Marrakchi, director of the Network Area at Ericsson Iberia, affirms, “if these areas do not have good coverage today, it is simply because from a business plan point of view the numbers do not come out.” They simply lack population. Now, in the midst of the wave of public investment with the European Recovery Funds, the deployment of 5G is an opportunity to close that digital divide, or reduce it drastically, opening the possibility of new economic developments.
Rural environments would have a positive financial impact of 16,000 million euros if they enjoyed a deployment of high-performance 5G, according to a report by the consulting firm Analysis Mason for the communications companies Ericsson and Qualcomm
But it is also a double-edged sword. If the fifth generation of telecommunications networks is only deployed in full force in cities, the gap will become an ocean, and an unmatched opportunity will be lost.
A report by the consulting firm Analysis Mason for the communications companies Ericsson and Qualcomm estimates that rural environments would have a positive financial impact of 16,000 million euros if they enjoyed a deployment of high-performance 5G. This concept, ‘high performance’, marks important differences. It is foreseeable that the commercial offer will bet on 5G in the 700 megahertz band, shelving the current coverage problems … but without enough bandwidth for the most innovative solutions. The good news is that, at least on the role of the National Recovery Plan, the public authorities are clear about it. Investments are already beginning: on December 2 they failed aid for 249.9 million euros, financed by European funds, to advance the universalization of ultra-fast broadband throughout the national territory.
More productivity
Hyperconnectivity through 5G would not only benefit the provision of public services such as education and healthcare. Another great challenge is its application to the economic engines linked to the field: the agri-food industry, livestock and agriculture.
“When we talk to people in the 5G field, many tell us that they can’t even talk on their mobile phones on their farms.” The agronomist Víctor Falguera is responsible for the R + D + i area at the ilerdense Akis consultancy, which works at the foot of the field for farmers and technicians. From that position he has already perceived “a boom in technology companies that are beginning to see agriculture as a favorable terrain, in matters such as water management, or the use of pesticides.” A 5G network with great capacities gives them the possibility of deploying these technologies, “but the problem is that they do not have agronomic experience, and on many occasions they lose focus.”
In other words, it is not about demonstrating that a technology works, but about solving a problem for the businessman in the field, a problem important enough that he is willing to pay for the solution. “We have to put ourselves in their shoes, and for them, for example, personnel management is critical. A model based on temporary employment agencies has been imposed, and it is very difficult to find qualified and trained personnel. Furthermore, it is very difficult to monitor their work on the ground, ”explains Falguera.
A pilot project developed among others by Akis demonstrates how 5G can help solve this problem, focusing on pruning, a critical moment in fruit exploitation processes as it determines the production structure. The operators proceeded on the ground with special glasses that also show them essential data such as the productive history of the plot. In addition, using cloud computing, that information was shared in real time with an agricultural technician, who, from the office, could help and monitor several operators at the same time. The result is a faster and more surgical pruning process.
The analysis of big data will improve the management of farms, through artificial intelligence
As in this case, the uses of new technologies in the economy of the field thanks to 5G do not discover anything new: it is about carrying out the same processes in a much more efficient and precise way, in quantities, times and places. For example, El-Marrakchi lists the reduction of the use of nutrients, pesticides and even water resources through their more selective and rigorous application.
Present and future
These principles are already applied with technology in the field economy: the health of animals is monitored on livestock farms to avoid or anticipate any health problem and improve livestock feeding – ”farms are increasingly similar to hospitals ”, says Falguera- and in the agri-food industry, technologies and sensorizations very similar to those of any other industry, such as chemicals, are applied.
In the medium term, a greater use of drones in agriculture, managed through 5G networks, and even the arrival of autonomous tractors can be forecast, something that specialized manufacturers such as John Deere have been working on for some time. The analysis of massive data for the better management of farms, through artificial intelligence techniques, also appears as a great opportunity on the horizon, but Falguera insists on the need to adjust the use of technology to the needs of the farmer or rancher . The technologies that 5G allows will improve your business, but the offer must adjust to your rhythms and your needs.
#techno #challenge #rural #Spain #living #coverage #autonomous #tractor