TIM Brasil and Ecovias do Araguaia, concessionaire of EcoRodovias, ASTM Group’s Brazilian subsidiary, announce a partnership to install 4G coverage along 850 kilometres of highways between the Mid-North and Centre-South of the country, running from Tocantins to Goiás, on which 30,000 vehicles circulate daily. This will be the longest stretch of highway in Brazil with uninterrupted coverage of a mobile phone signal.
The project, which has an overall impact on a catchment area of around 900 thousand people, will improve connectivity for residents of 33 municipalities, 88 public schools, 31 hospitals and numerous agribusinesses in the region.
Currently, the mobile phone signal is only active on about 20% of the highways between Aliança do Tocantins (TO) and Anápolis (GO). The project was designed by TIM Brasil to meet the requirements of the Ecovias do Araguaia concession tender, which provides for the extension of the 4G mobile network, thus enabling the use of telecommunications between road users and the concessionaire’s service. The focus is particularly on road safety, and everyone who lives, works or travels close to the highways will also benefit.
This is the first partnership in Brazil between a highway concessionaire and a telecom company. Work will begin later this year, with the project to be completed by September 2024.
TIM Brasil, equipped with Brazil’s largest mobile network, will provide 4G coverage of the country’s longest stretch of highway. The partnership with EcoRodovias ensures a robust and sustainable infrastructure across the region, which will support road safety on connected highways.
For the ASTM Group, the project is consistent with the objective of guaranteeing safe, technologically advanced, resilient and sustainable infrastructures. Connectivity in the highway system is a key element for vehicle-infrastructure communication. In the coming years, vehicles will be increasingly integrated with the functioning of the motorways, equipped with embedded systems capable of exchanging information with the motorway in real time, so as to make travel safer, easier and faster for the driver and facilitate traffic management by the concessionaire.
TIM Group
TIM is the leading ICT group in Italy and Brazil, placing itself at the forefront of digital technologies. Develops optic-fiber fixed-line network infrastructure, which makes available to all the market, both through a capillary presence over the whole national territory and through Sparkle at international level. TIM offers to individuals and families services and products of mobile and fixed-line telephony for communication and entertainment and accompanies small and medium enterprises towards digitalization through a portfolio which is personalized to their needs. Cloud, IoT and Cybersecurity are at the centre of TIM Enterprise end-to-end solutions for companies and public administrations, which develop the digital transformation of the country using the largest network of data centres in Italy, the expertise of Group companies such as Noovle, Olivetti and Telsy, and through partnerships with groups of primary importance. In Brazil, TIM Brasil is one of the main players in the South American telecommunications market and a leader in 4G coverage. In developing its business, the group has adopted a sustainability strategy based on the objectives of climate strategy, the circular economy, digital growth and gender equality and aims to become carbon neutral in 2030 and achieve zero net emissions by 2040. It also supports projects of high social interest via TIM Foundation.
ASTM Group
ASTM Group is a world leader in the management of motorway networks and in the design and construction of major infrastructural works. Present in 15 countries and with approximately 17,000 employees and collaborators, the Group's activities are focused in three main areas: management of infrastructural concessions, design and construction of major works (EPC - Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and technology applied to transport mobility. In the area of motorway concessions, the Group is the second largest private operator in the world in the management of infrastructure with a network of around 6,200 km of motorway networks, of which over 1,400 km in Italy and 84 km in the United Kingdom. In Brazil, ASTM's subsidiary, EcoRodovias (listed on the Novo Mercado segment of the B3 stock exchange), manages 4,700 km, the largest road network in the country. For further information, visit: www.astm.it and www.ecorodovias.com.br.
Rome, 10 February 2023
