Following the recent announcement that Nokia and AT&T Mexico have deployed what they call the first industrial-grade LTE private network in a maritime terminal in the country, there’s been another private network announcement in Latin America – this time in Brazil and using 5G.

Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate Nestlé has deployed the first private 5G network in Latin America using the Ericsson Private 5G (EP5G) solution. This is described as the region’s first private 5G standalone network with a 100% on-premises network architecture, operating completely separately from the public mobile network.

It’s a collaboration between Nestlé, Ericsson and service providers Claro and Embratel, one that signals the move away from an automated to autonomous factory, although the precise deployment location or locations do not seem to have been announced yet.

The EP5G solution enables fast data processing – network data transfer speeds up to 25 times higher than 4G – and is particularly suited to supporting business-critical applications that require ultra-short response times in the millisecond range.

5G’s high data throughput and low latency will make a significant difference to Nestlé’s industrial environment by transforming its ways of working – further building on the company’s smart factory focus, and enhancing productivity, efficiency and workplace safety. The project utilizes frequencies licensed for experimental use by Claro.

The past few years has seen Nestlé take advantage of emerging technologies, such as robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality and the operation of self-driving vehicles.

Ericsson says that, with the private 5G standalone network in place, Nestlé’s entire digital ecosystem will become even more reliable and comprehensive, enabling new innovative use cases.

The private and closed cellular network will also strengthen network security, with sensitive data remaining exclusively on the factory’s local network.