Hispasat, the Spanish communications satellite operator, and the Hispatec Group, a leader specialising in software and digitalisation solutions for the agricultural sector, have signed an agreement to promote the use of new technologies in this sector in Europe, the Americas and north Africa.
Thanks to this agreement, both companies will collaborate to extend the use of the Hispatec Group's technological tools in these regions to provide digital management solutions for agricultural farms through satellite connectivity, the only type that ensures reliable, highquality broadband access regardless of where the crops are geographically located. This way, both companies are expanding upon the collaboration started earlier this year with a pilot connectivity project carried out in a crop field owned by Florette.
Thanks to this project, the companies were able to bring broadband satellite connectivity Wi-Fi so that the farm workers could transmit the crop management data from their mobile devices in real time, without having to travel to far-off areas that have land-based connectivity.
Rural places, sparsely populated areas and regions with difficult geography are affected by poor coverage provided by land-based telecommunications infrastructures. Specifically, in Spain around 3.2 million people are still unable to access a high-quality network. This is more pressing in the areas dedicated to crops or livestock, where network roll-out is more lacking than in the populated centres. The problem is even greater in regions like Latin America, where the coverage by land-based infrastructures is not as extensive as in Spain and the areas dedicated to agriculture are much larger. This lack of connectivity prevents digital processes from being applied to manage farms in these areas, a problem that the collaboration with Hispasat can solve thanks to its fleet of satellites that facilitate spatial capacity to access the Internet in any point under its footprint.
The use of the applications developed by the Hispatec Group and the connectivity provided by Hispasat's satellites will benefit many agricultural entrepreneurs with farms located in areas that do not have good connectivity, helping them take decisions and contributing to increased productivity and reduced water, fertiliser and plant sanitary product usage. This technology ensures that products are traceable and helps to minimise the impact that agricultural-livestock activity has on the environment.
Hispasat recently presented its portfolio for the agricultural world, which features robust, efficient connectivity solutions adaptable to the specific needs of each final customer to help them along the path to digital transformation. This offer includes services for IoT data transmission, connectivity for devices thanks to a satellite Wi-Fi network and data transmission from mobile agricultural machinery. These solutions can be combined with each other and are independent from land-based electrical and telecommunications infrastructures. The universal coverage of its fleet over Europe, America and north Africa and the quick roll-out of user terminals make Hispasat's satellites an ideal connectivity solution for the agricultural industry.
For its part, the Hispatec Group, with more than 30 years of experience in technologies for the agricultural sector, has begun its international expansion by opening offices in Peru, Mexico and Chile, where it is already a leader in the digitalisation of agricultural companies. The company also focuses on the digital transformation of the sector as one of the key drivers for competitiveness and profitability. The agricultural sector is fully immersed in its fourth revolution, led by mobile applications, data and artificial intelligence. None of this will be possible without connectivity. For the Hispatec Group, relying on an expensive coverage network is essential to carry out a true revolution in the sector.
