Why, and how, telecom is thinking about sustainability

Motivations, practical considerations and more influence how the industry defines sustainability

How the telecom industry thinks about, and defines, sustainability lead to its priorities and actions, and the how and why it matters to the industry to work towards sustainability of telecom networks and businesses.

A detailed discussion of those motivations and practical applications came early in the day during the recent Telco Sustainability Forum, with input from panelists from Ericsson, the Open Networking Foundation and Arelion.

Sarat Puthenpura, chief architect for Open RAN with the Open Networking Foundation, identified several drivers for sustainability, which he called the “three aspects that drive the sustainability engine”: Economic incentives, social responsibility, and regulatory requirements.

Operators do have strong economic incentives to push toward more efficient networks, he said, as they strive to control energy costs and increase available network capacity and speed. In addition, Puthenpura pointed out, operators have also been moving toward more software-based networks where the need to frequently update electronic hardware (and the resulting junk at end-of-life) can be reduced. Meanwhile, they are facing increasing pressure to be good corporate citizens—and increasingly, regulations, when social pressure alone isn’t enough.

The work is particular urgent at the moment, as carriers are putting in place and planning for the changes they need to make in order to meet the goals that they, or regulators, have set for 2030 and beyond.

Jaime Gomezjurada, head of market intelligence for Ericsson America, said that in that broader context, how telecom operators think about the aspirational “best network” is shifting.

“The definition of a ‘best network’ changes at this point. It no longer just means fast and reliable, but it also means high-performing, energy efficient and sustainable,” he said. “And there is implications to that, right? How we want to think about networks in those terms, and how you want to think about network planning.” The latter in particular needs to be more holistic, he added, in order to look at the various combinations of factors that can be optimized to maintain or improve performance, while optimizing enery use as well. With the Radio Access Network accounting for the largest percentage of network energy usage, it is also the primary candidate for targeting energy reductions.

Some technology approaches already exist that improve energy efficiency. Using massive MIMO systems can reduce energy use by 15% per gigabit delivered, Gomezjurada said, while providing an additional 12x capacity. Meanwhile, network sites that see little usage are increasingly being considered for sleep-modes or other energy-related turn-downs, because it doesn’t make financial or environmental sense to broadcast at full power when no connections are being served.

Artificial intelligence, is also being explored for its potential to increase network efficiency. But AI is also power-hungry. Asked if AI’s potential energy benefits justify its expected additional power needs, Puthenpura said that AI will “absolutely” be important in operationalizing energy efficiency.

Tools from major network vendors already exist to turn down network radios, but they mostly have not yet been operationalized, he explained, because of operators’ concerns about maintaining performance. When radios go into a sleep-mode, waking them back up is not instantaneous, he pointed out. But AI could bring in value by being able to analyze the unique behavior of traffic at individual sites which indicate both that radios can be turned down, and predictive indicators that load will soon go back up and that radios need to be turned back on in preparation so that user experience remains consistent.

The use of AI in intelligent xApps and rApps in open radio networks will also likely give AI an even larger role in efficiency and sustainability, Puthenpura added.

Sandra Klackenborn, head of sustainability for network backbone operator Arelion, emphasized that when it comes to energy usage, one of the “big jumps” available to operators to move toward net-zero emissions is to switch to renewable energy sources and reduce reliable on diesel and fossil fuels. Unfortunately, direct access to renewable energy sources or green energy credits aren’t always available, but progress is being made and operators are expected to invest this year in additional deployments of their own renewable energy sources.

Reducing electronic waste associated with networks is another area that encompasses both sustainability and good business sense, as equipment or materials can often be refurbished or resold to other industries. “There is a lot to do in harnessing valuable resources that are used in the components,” Klackenborn said.

Klackenborn pointed out that, amid the formidable challenges of making networks more sustainable, it is important to remember the importance of telecommunications services to people and the planet. “Our service is very important for communities and people to engage and communicate. Let’s not forget about the positive impact that our services can provide,” she said.

She also reminded the audience that telecommunications is about connectivity—and that in tackling sustainability challenges, it makes sense that that would also include collaboration among peers.

“The networks are very, very intricately connected … both horizontally and vertically, we are all very much connected,” she pointed out. “So I think we could do maybe a little bit more in terms of collaborating, to find ways of joining towards these challenges.”

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