Claro Chile, a subsidiary of Mexico's América Móvil, is involved in two smart city projects and wants to establish itself as an integrator and facilitator of urban solutions.
“The demand for solutions for smart cities is constantly growing due to several global trends such as the concentration of population in cities, security and the incorporation of sustainability variables in urban development and urban mobility,” Francisco Guzmán Marín, vice president of B2B unit Claro Empresas, told BNamericas.
Guzmán shared data that showed smart city solutions are expected to grow at least 30% annually in the next five years, leveraged by demand for sensors.
Santiago has been classified as the smartest and most sustainable city in Latin America, according to Universidad de Navarra's IESE business school, which publishes the annual Cities in Motion index.
Claro is also running a 5G laboratory to develop solutions for cities together with Universidad Católica de Chile (UC).
“The UC innovation center is in a stage of transformation,” Guzmán said. “Today it seeks to be a space to promote multi-industry experiential interconnectivity, renamed Lab X to X, where one of its strategic focuses will be development and innovation for smart cities.”
The company acquired 5G spectrum, which it will use to improve its business services proposal as the technology improves speed and reduces latency, enabling data management in real time.
"In addition, the 5G network can handle a greater number of connected devices simultaneously, which is essential for the mass deployment of IoT in business environments and its large-scale public use," added Guzmán.
SMART CITIES
Claro recently completed a new milestone in the BIG Barrio Recreo project in Viña del Mar, Valparaíso region, with the installation and launch of the proof-of-concept of the first smart pole that collects data through mobile networks.
A camera on the pole is directly connected to the city's security center, a panic button, an emergency intercom and includes a QR code reader that allows access to information on local commerce, tourism and other services.
The project is in its fourth stage and is being developed together with Universidad Andrés Bello and city hall. It is aimed at implementing technology that facilitates security and mobility, as well as sensors and monitoring systems to optimize public services and urban infrastructure.
Claro's second project is dubbed City Lab Bio Bio and serves Greater Concepción in Biobío region.
It involves a partnership with MIT and uses anonymized data from the 4G network to analyze and improve urban mobility and sustainability, allowing researchers and urban planners to study movement patterns and develop data-driven solutions.
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Quelle/Source: Bnamericas, 02.08.2024