Energy consumption accounts for up to 50 percent of a network operator’s operating expenses. Rising energy costs, coupled with the increasing power requirements of new bandwidth-intensive services, has spurred service providers to look for solutions that can reduce power consumption as well as improve carbon footprint. Moreover, the emerging need for telecommunications in developing countries, where access to utility power is either unavailable or unreliable, has also amplified the need for alternative energy sources.

Where is the Power?!

For most telecom providers, one of the greatest challenges is to keep the network site powered and ready for service. As coverage reaches saturation in metro areas, increasingly these network sites are situated in rural or remote areas, such as mountain provinces and farm lands where no structured grid is available.

Engaging the local utility to provide a service to the locations can be expensive and a painful process that will take months, years or simply be impractical to contemplate. Its a hallmark of the world we live in that telecommunications services are forging ahead of the delivery of what were previously considered foundation and essential services, namely clean water, power, roads etc. Mobile telephony clearly waits for no man!

Service providers must make alternate arrangements to enable sufficient and reliable power to sustain service to the subscribers living and working in these remote or un-serviced communities, or risk loosing that subscriber base to a more energetic competitor. This edition of CommsConnect looks at how Emerson Network Power enablers operators to overcome the absence of the grid to deliver telephony services “anywhere”.

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