The NGMN Alliance has uncovered and released a set of best practices to help telcos in reducing their energy usage, and has emphasised the problems that need to be tackled if network operators seek to reduce their operating charges and diminish the environmental impact of their daily activities.
One of the most compelling suggestions is for telcos to speed up their transition from legacy networks (like 2G and 3G) to more energy-efficient technologies (4G and 5G) and to re-allocate 2G and 3G spectrum for more energy-efficient radio access technologies and, as a consequence, deploy extra 4G and 5G spectrum that is expected to boost network data speed and capacity.
It also advises that telcos upgrade their radio access networks (RANs) by replacing their RAN sites with “cutting-edge” energy-efficient equipment and antennas that support all mobile generations – from 2G to 5G – and leverage the features offered by the latest technologies to enjoy next-generation, energy-efficient solutions.
Ultimately, one of the major hurdles that the industry body faces is getting permits for its projects from authorities. The organisation believes that renewable energy solutions could be deployed more quickly if the procedures were simplified. It appealed to planning authorities to make the procedures smoother and quicker to accelerate and ease the process.