Issue 9 2019

28 CORPORATE VISION / Issue 9 2019 , The telecom service provider joins the global innovation platformaimed at finding new business opportunities within the market. Claro is the first telecom in South America to join forces with global innovation platform Plug and Play as founding partner in Brazil, which opened its doors on September 18 in São Paulo. The partnership creates a model where start-ups will be supported when scaling up through corporate strategic assets, contributing to the insertion of Brazilian companies in the global open innovation ecosystem. Plug and Play's office in Brazil will offer start-ups direct contact with global markets, such as Silicon Valley, China and more, as well as mentoring from leading companies executives in their segments – such as Claro – in order to grow and to develop new products and services. "Transformation and innovation are the purpose of Claro, manifested by brand positioning and on the search for new technologies solutions and new partners to our business. The partnership with Plug and Play establishes a large ecosystem of collaboration, acceleration and co-creation with start- ups, especially in the areas of IoT, Smart Cities, connected homes and cars, Industry 4.0, Agriculture 4.0 and FinTechs," says Claro's Marketing Director, Marcio Carvalho. Innovation and pioneering The partnership with Plug and Play is an opportunity for Claro to position itself as a market innovation leader and a new hub for connections. The operator already has several initiatives focused on connectivity, modernisation and creation of new technologies. Based on that, the carrier recently announced with Chevrolet the arrival of the first connected car manufactured in Brazil, offering "Wi-Fi powered by Claro," allowing customers to hire data packages and sharing this with their family and friends on the go. The company is first telecom service provider to offer connectivity using e-sim technology in Brazilian market along with Apple on Apple Watch. This technology enables real-time vehicle monitoring by GM, who can interact with the vehicle owner in cases such as problem diagnosis or preventive vehicle overhaul. Claro is also interacting and using start-ups to enhance its customer experience and reduce costs by streamlining processes and introducing new methods and technologies. "The idea is to evolve the relationship with start-ups from an standard vendor model to a partnership and intellectual property sharing model, scaling and monetising the opportunities," says Digital Director, Rodrigo Modesto Duclos. Claro is also working on other solutions to offer Internet of Things (supporting the growth of Industry 4.0), Agriculture 4.0 and FinTechs markets in Brazil for new business related to data management and advanced advertising. To support all of these, Claro has been investing in network infrastructure and digital platforms, bringing new features and new B2B offerings. This innovation by design behaviour has enabled Claro to pioneer through all mobile internet generations deployed so far (3G, 4G and 4.5G) and also the first telecom to install a 5G antenna in Brazil – this network will significantly improve the customer experience, enabling critical applications such as telesurgeries, autonomous vehicles, augmented and virtual reality and many others. Claro's Technological Reference Center, in Ilha do Fundão (RJ), was chosen by ANATEL to be the homologation centre for 5G technology in Brazil. Last year, at Futurecom, Claro ran an 8k video broadcasting demo within Rede Globo, the largest video definition available so far, over a 5G test site connected to its network. Joining Forces