The Fifth Generation (5G) spectrum networks has been described as energy efficient, according to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, reports ITREALMS.
The EVC who was speaking at the 2023 commemoration of the World Consumer Rights Day with the theme: “Empowering Consumers through Clean Energy Transition” in Abuja, said that NCC in keeping to its tradition, is poised to realising the theme for this year.
The theme, he said, is very relevant given that Nigeria's recent licensing of the 5G spectrum network, which Danbatta noted consumes twice as much energy as 4Gs, “although they are more energy-efficient per gigabyte.”
The EVC pointed out 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.
“This requires the industry to look for green and sustainable power solutions required for the connectivity of IoT devices and network optimisation,” he said.
All over the globe, Prof. Danbatta explained that 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. This is more so because it has been found that implementing energy efficiency measures could potentially reduce the operating costs of telcos by up to 20 per cent,” he said.
Some of these energy-efficiency measures, he outlined to include the redesign of the Radio Access Networks (RAN) of Base Stations which were initially built to maximise connectivity, not energy efficiency.
“More than 75 per cent 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,” he said.
Stressing that to avoid waste heat, some of 5G’s newest RAN is equipped with an energy-saving measure allowing for the automatic switching of components.
He underscored the fact that some other energy efficiency measures could also include the use of renewable energy sources (hydrogen, wind, solar etc.) to supply the energy needed.
