more than $560 million in operational expenditure annually by powering down
redundant base stations, according to Arieso.
By analysing actual subscriber
network traffic data that indicates network capacity demand, Arieso believes
that around 390,000 base stations can be powered down during quiet night time
periods, saving more than 3.5 billion KWh of electrical power.
Many operators do not have
the access to precise data that tells them exactly where and when traffic
demand exists, and where and when base stations are most needed. This
information could help operators understand which base stations can be powered
down and for how long, without affecting the consumer experience.
New base stations may help
solve capacity issues during peak hours, but during the dead of night, many of
these base stations become redundant – yet still consume the same amount of
power.
It’s well understood that
energy consumption makes up a major portion of operator OPEX, and powering down
base stations to reduce this has been discussed in the industry for some time.
Self-optimising networks have an important role to play in power saving.
“However, the
challenge of knowing how and when to save power safely, without affecting the
user experience, has not been met. Understanding the detail of when and, more
importantly, where subscribers are using – or not using – the network is
central to making these choices and realising the savings,” said Michael
Flanagan, CTO, Arieso.
Arieso calculated that this
unnecessary power consumption needlessly contributes large volumes of harmful
CO2 to the earth’s atmosphere. Reducing the 3.5 billion KWh
consumption shown in this study equates to a reduction of 1.9 million metric
tonnes of CO2e (1.9 Mt CO2e). Eliminating these emissions
would be equivalent to taking approximately 478,000 cars off the road each
year, globally.
Mobile networks are
designed to serve peak traffic demand. However, in off-peak periods, traffic
demand falls significantly, requiring just a fraction of the total available
resources. In effect, network capacity provided for peak traffic becomes
redundant during quite periods.
Using actual customer usage
data, Arieso monitors the
real-world impact of data and voice calls in precise locations, and determines
their effects on overall network performance.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
