Telcos Focused on Energy Use, But Hitting 'Net Zero' Emissions Won't Be Easy: Ericsson
The telecom industry is making progress toward “net zero” carbon emissions, but getting there will be a struggle as wireless networks expand and data use increases, said Mike Murphy, Ericsson North America chief technology officer, during an Ericsson webinar Tuesday. ABI Research recently selected Ericsson as the overall “Most Sustainable Telco Vendor.”
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The “bad news” on energy use is that data consumption continues to grow, Murphy said, noting the number of mobile devices worldwide grew from one billion to six billion worldwide between the start of 3G and late stages of 4G. We probably won’t add another 5 billion phones during the 5G era “because there’s not that many people on the planet” but the number of devices beyond phones will grow, he said.
For 5G, providers are getting new spectrum bands, from mid-band to millimeter-wave, but those bands are “really far apart” and “you can’t make a radio that covers all that, so… you have to add new radios,” Murphy said. For 5G to live up to its promise, networks are being densified, which also means adding gear to the network, he said. “Things are kind of going in the wrong direction,” he said. “That’s a lot of downside.”
The “good part” is “everybody is a lot more conscientious, including Ericsson, in developing better products, better site solutions, network features that can reduce consumption,” Murphy said. Ericsson did a study that found with “pretty aggressive” modernization of networks, industry could reduce energy use by 36%, he said. The company looked at using AI to turn off radios when they’re idle or when an adjacent cell can take over the traffic, he said. That could mean an overall reduction of 45%, he said.
“We could actually flatten the energy curve,” Murphy said: “We have the tools. The question is what is the incentive and how do you make it financially practical.”
Getting to net-zero starts with carriers obtaining 100% of their electricity from renewable sources, said Kim Arrington Johnson, ABI Research principal analyst. By one estimate, the broader telecom industry could cut 80% of its carbon footprint if wireless carriers used only renewable energy, she said. From there, carriers need to switch off less efficient legacy equipment “and we’re seeing that globally,” she said.
Carriers also need to focus on the radio access network, which is responsible for 70% of energy use, including active and passive equipment, Johnson said. Multiband radios, latest generation gear and more powerful silicon throughout the RAN “is a big part of reducing that 70% of energy use,” she said. Smarter software can monitor the network and shut down gear when it’s not being used, she said: Telcos around the world are modernizing their infrastructure, moving away from large equipment rooms requiring lots of air conditioning and modernizing cooling.
Telecom networks are responsible for up to 3% of global energy demand and there’s a “a huge amount of energy powering these networks,” Johnson said. Energy costs are 20-40% of provider operating costs, especially with electricity costs as high as they are now, she said. The cost of buying spectrum gets the headlines but accounts for only 3% of the cost of a network in developed markets like the U.S., she said.
Johnson sees reason for hope. “I do see significant, measurable actions that have been taken in the direction” of addressing climate change and reducing carbon emissions, she said. Today, more than 5,300 companies have committed to reduce their carbon footprint, she said. Investors are also pressuring public companies to do more on climate change, she said. Regulators are also applying pressure, with governments in the U.K. and Japan imposing mandatory climate disclosures for the largest companies, she said. In the U.S., action could come from the FCC, and California is looking at disclosure requirements, she said.
“There’s a lot of momentum,” Johnson said: “Have we reached a complete tipping point yet? Maybe that’s up for debate. But there certainly is increased interest in addressing climate change.”