Many in the telecommunications industry might feel relieved by the sector’s inconspicuous carbon footprint and energy usage to the average person. The targets of environmental advocates are rarely the large operators or vendors. You do not see protestors picketing outside a 5G CPE manufacturer. Instead, the targets are those more evidently consuming bucketloads of power and emitting vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

If only they knew that the telecommunications industry’s scope 3 emissions, which encompass the entire value chain from suppliers to product end-use, including manufacturing, transport, and disposal of equipment, data centres, and the end devices, were responsible for 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2—around 2% of global emissions. [1] This emission level surpasses that of the entire country of Japan, the world’s 4th largest economy.

That was 2019 data. 5G isn’t making this any better; its energy usage poses an even greater challenge due to its energy-intensive nature. A 5G base station consumes roughly three times as much power as its 4G counterpart, and the network requires more base stations to cover the same area, further eating up energy. Then, consider the massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, which alone will require an additional 1,000 watts of power per sector. [2]. All this even before we come to the millions and millions of devices that these 5G networks will be powering.

5G rollouts are not slowing down, and with 6G on the distant horizon, the demand for power will only increase. Barring a fusion power miracle, the telecommunications industry needs to find ways to reduce its footprint now. The energy consumption of data centres is already under increasing scrutiny, and the power-hungry advent of generative AI is poised to bring even closer attention to the energy usage of the infrastructure powering the future.

[1] https://news.sap.com/2023/09/emissions-in-telecommunications-industry-sustainable-transformation/

[2] https://ehtrust.org/science/reports-on-power-consumption-and-increasing-energy-use-of-wireless-systems-and-digital-ecosystem/

It’s no surprise that xApps/rApps related to energy management and power optimisation are among the most popular topics people want to discuss with us at events, exhibitions, and panels. Our SDK enables Accelleran and third-party developers to easily develop and deploy xApps/rApps onto a network, with these energy management apps using advanced algorithms to automatically manage the performance and energy output of individual 5G cells. Learn more about the Accelleran RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and associated xApps/rApps by downloading our datasheet:

Many in the telecommunications industry might feel relieved by the sector’s inconspicuous carbon footprint and energy usage to the average person. The targets of environmental advocates are rarely the large operators or vendors. You do not see protestors picketing outside a 5G CPE manufacturer. Instead, the targets are those more evidently consuming bucketloads of power and emitting vast amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

If only they knew that the telecommunications industry’s scope 3 emissions, which encompass the entire value chain from suppliers to product end-use, including manufacturing, transport, and disposal of equipment, data centres, and the end devices, were responsible for 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2—around 2% of global emissions. [1] This emission level surpasses that of the entire country of Japan, the world’s 4th largest economy.

That was 2019 data. 5G isn’t making this any better; its energy usage poses an even greater challenge due to its energy-intensive nature. A 5G base station consumes roughly three times as much power as its 4G counterpart, and the network requires more base stations to cover the same area, further eating up energy. Then, consider the massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, which alone will require an additional 1,000 watts of power per sector. [2] All this even before we come to the millions and millions of devices that these 5G networks will be powering.

5G rollouts are not slowing down, and with 6G on the distant horizon, the demand for power will only increase. Barring a fusion power miracle, the telecommunications industry needs to find ways to reduce its footprint now. The energy consumption of data centres is already under increasing scrutiny, and the power-hungry advent of generative AI is poised to bring even closer attention to the energy usage of the infrastructure powering the future.

[1] https://news.sap.com/2023/09/emissions-in-telecommunications-industry-sustainable-transformation/

[2] https://ehtrust.org/science/reports-on-power-consumption-and-increasing-energy-use-of-wireless-systems-and-digital-ecosystem/