A strategic alliance between ARAUCO and Sonda will “light up” more than 700,000 hectares of forestry land, increasing the company’s safety, productivity and sustainability standards, and benefiting local communities in the regions of O’Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío, La Araucanía and Los Ríos with high-speed Internet connection.

The “Illuminated Forest” project, the first of its kind in Latin America, will be fully operational by 2024 and will be implemented with the installation of telecommunications towers, as well as the use of mobile cars to provide coverage at specific locations.

In addition to providing rural connectivity to people, the project will allow to incorporate IoT (Internet of Things) sensing solutions to monitor, in real time, environmental conditions and, in turn, develop analytical and Artificial Intelligence solutions. All of this, with objectives as wide-ranging as the generation of productive efficiencies and the early detection of fires.

“Illuminated Forest’ is a very important step, as it positions ARAUCO as a world leader in applied technology for the forestry industry. This alliance represents what the forests of the future will be like, where artificial intelligence and innovation will strengthen our processes and the safety of our workers. It will also be a tangible contribution to the communities where we have a presence,” said Rodrigo Sobarzo, Manager of Planning and Continuous Improvement at the subsidiary.