The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, says the telecoms industry in Nigeria should look for green and sustainable power solutions required for the connectivity of IoT devices and network optimisation in response to the ongoing global energy crisis caused by supply and climate issues.
Speaking at the 2023 World Consumer Right Day held in Abuja on Wednesday, with the theme, “Empowering Consumers through Clean Energy Transition,” the NCC boss explained that with the recent licensing of the Fifth Generation (5G) spectrum, Nigeria will witness an increased deployment of telecom infrastructure to satisfy the wireless service coverage requirement for 5G services.
This anticipated growth in the number of 5G coverage, he said, will trigger high demand for data services which will result in increased energy consumption for the network infrastructure especially the Base Transceiver Stations (BTS), Internet of Things (IoT), 5G Customer Premise Equipment (CPEs) and mobile devices for example.
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“All over the globe, telecom companies are among the biggest energy users, as a result of the stiff industry competition which causes them to try to satisfy their consumers by providing higher-speed networks.
“With the rising utility costs, it is critical for companies to reconsider the sustainability of their operations by lowering the operational impact on the environment, he said.
According to him, implementing energy efficiency measures could potentially reduce the operating costs of telcos by up to 20%.
Examples of these energy-efficiency measures, he explained, include the redesign of the Radio Access Networks (RAN) of Base Stations which were initially built to maximise connectivity, not energy efficiency.
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“More than 75% of the time, the radio base station resources remain unused because of the hardware components activated at all times to transmit system information and synchronisation and reference signals. Therefore, to avoid waste heat, some of 5G’s newest RAN is equipped with an energy-saving measure allowing for the automatic switching of components.
“Some other energy efficiency measures can also include the use of renewable energy sources (hydrogen, wind, solar etc.) to supply the energy needed,’’ he said.
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