When it comes to sustainability, for telcos the largest challenge is reducing the energy consumption of their ever-growing networks. Many of the largest operators around the world, including the likes of Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom, have already committed to reducing their carbon emissions to net-zero by 2040 – a target that will be very difficult to achieve without rethinking the way in which they view network energy consumption…

When it comes to sustainability, for telcos the largest challenge is reducing the energy consumption of their ever-growing networks. Many of the largest operators around the world, including the likes of Orange, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom, have already committed to reducing their carbon emissions to net-zero by 2040 – a target that will be very difficult to achieve without rethinking the way in which they view network energy consumption. 

With this in mind, Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson have today announced a new collaboration, modifying a live 5G mobile site in Germany to support both wind and solar power generation and integration. 

The site, situated in Dittenheim, had been part-powered by 12 square metres of solar panels for over a year as part of a previous partnership between the two companies. Now, a new trial has seen wind turbines added to further boost the site’s capacity for renewable energy usage.

The combined solution is facilitated by the Ericsson Power System, which jointly controls the two power sources and the batteries also integrated into the system. This not only allows for more optimised energy consumption from the various sources, but also allows the batteries as dynamic power storage units, storing renewable energy when available. 

When conditions are right, the site can operate using energy from the renewable sources alone, without need to tap the electrical power grid.

“Ensuring an integrated management of clean, efficient and reliable power sources and usage is key for sustainable mobile site operations. Together with innovative partners we explore in trials how we can apply intelligent solutions and capabilities to optimize energy consumption and control at mobile sites,” said Leif Heitzer, SVP Technology Guidance and Economics at Deutsche Telekom.

An announcement by the Canadian government has banned Huawei and ZTE equipment from Canadian 4G and 5G networks.
The Canadian government said that the ban was on the grounds of national security concerns, in particular that Huawei and ZTE are legally obliged to comply with Chinese government intelligence agencies, potentially handing over sensitive information…

An announcement by the Canadian government has banned Huawei and ZTE equipment from Canadian 4G and 5G networks.

The Canadian government said that the ban was on the grounds of national security concerns, in particular that Huawei and ZTE are legally obliged to comply with Chinese government intelligence agencies, potentially handing over sensitive information. 

“The Government is committed to maximizing the social and economic benefits of 5G and access to telecommunications services writ large, but not at the expense of security,” read a government statement.

Following the announcement, Canadian telcos will no longer purchase additional 4G or 5G equipment from these vendors from September this year. In addition, they must remove all existing 5G equipment from these vendors by 28 June 2024, and from all 4G networks by the end of 2027. 

These removal plans are similar in scope to those implement in other markets that have banned Huawei and ZTE; the UK, for example, is also aiming to have Huawei equipment entirely removed from national networks by 2027.

The move will make Canada the last of the Five Eyes alliance – an intelligence sharing alliance between Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand – to implement a full ban on Huawei technology. 

Huawei, naturally, has protested the ban, saying that the company does not represent a security threat and will take all means necessary to safeguard its interests. 

Canada’s relationship with Huawei has been rocky for numerous years, perhaps catalysed by a long-running court drama involving Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer and daughter of founder, Ren Zhengfei.

Meng was detained by Canada in December 2018, with the US having called for her arrest on charges of fraud and the deliberate violation of US sanctions. Meng contested the charges, leading to a prolonged legal battle that saw her remain under house arrest in Canada for almost three years. 

Following her arrest, China quickly detained two Canadian nationals, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on the grounds of national security, in a move widely linked to Meng’s arrest.

The Meng case was finally resolved in September 2021 through a deferred prosecution agreement. The ‘Two Michaels’, as they had become referred to by the media, were released shortly afterwards.
 

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Also in the news: 
Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson combine wind and solar for 5G site
Sasho Veselinski to step down as G.Network CEO
BT trials for new antenna technology to boost UK 5G coverage

BT is undertaking a trial of new antenna technology that has the potential boost the range of 5G networks. The receiver technology works by utilising a quantum effect called « electromagnetically induced transparency& »…

BT is undertaking a trial of new antenna technology that has the potential boost the range of 5G networks.

The receiver technology works by utilising a quantum effect called « electromagnetically induced transparency » to produce greater sensitivity in terms of finding weaker signals. BT speculates that this could boost sensitivity by more than 100 times.

A spokesperson from BT explained how the antenna equipment will work. “A conventional dipole antenna is a macroscopic solid conductor and subject to thermal noise as the billions of atoms jostle each other at room temperature. In a diffuse gas, the atoms interact much less, so thermal noise can be reduced, and the signal-to-noise ratio is reduced even for weak signals, especially in a narrow frequency band.”

Currently, the research team at BT Labs in Martlesham are working towards finding the optimum radio frequency (RF) modulation and signal processing for future use in radio networks, as well as miniaturising the equipment.

Although this process will take time, the technology does have the potential to provide a significantly higher standard of sensitivity than standard radio antennas. This would mean a reduction of mobile network energy consumption and the potential for receivers to be positioned in hard-to-reach locations. This could have significant benefits for rural areas that struggle to obtain 5G signal. In terms of financial advancements, cost savings may flow from this technological development.

A date for deployment has not yet been announced. However, according to BT Senior Manager for Network Physics, Fraser Burton, « A commercial product is at least three to five years out, so network deployment within the decade is possible. »

Iqbal Singh Bedi hosted a panel discussion at Connected North that explored the future case of 5G networks with Jessica Ellis of the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS), Rosemary Kay of Liverpool’s eHealth Cluster and Paul Coffey of the Scotland 5G Centre. According to Iqbal, a key discussion point was the Government&’…

Iqbal Singh Bedi hosted a panel discussion at Connected North that explored the future case of 5G networks with Jessica Ellis of the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS), Rosemary Kay of Liverpool’s eHealth Cluster and Paul Coffey of the Scotland 5G Centre.

According to Iqbal, a key discussion point was the Government’s role in accelerating the rollout of commercial 5G cellular networks, particularly densified small cell 5G networks that bring very low latency and multi gigabit capability to end user devices.

“However,”, according to Bedi, “densified public small 5G networks are scarce in the UK.” To combat this, the Government launched the Digital Communications Infrastructure Accelerator (DCIA) which was designed to make cities more appealing for 5G small cell investment.

Telecoms expert Bedi said, “While there are some benefits to the DCIA it is unlikely to result in any significant 5G small cell investment momentum”.

He put this down to a couple of key reasons. The first reason he said was that “Mobile operators are simply not focussed on deploying densified small cell public 5G networks in city centres. Instead, their current focus is on upgrading indoor cellular networks to 5G and upgrading outdoor 4G macro networks to 5G.”

Second, there is a notable absence of a ‘killer use case’ or ‘use cases’ to incentivise invest in costly 5G networks at any scale.

Intelligens Consulting recently supported a client to overcome these issues. They developed a private-5G enabled connected tourism use case for a local authority using virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR).

Bedi said, “The approach we took was based on a key principle, to ensure the use case would be commercially sustainable and independent of government subsidy.” As a result, it is expected that this private 5G network built to support a connected tourism use case could be leveraged to stimulate commercially led investment in public densified small cell 5G services.”

Intelligens Consulting has advised local authorities to unlock GBP multimillion investments in fibre, 5G and IoT networks at zero cost to the taxpayer resulting in GBP billions in economic impact creating smarter, connected places. Their team of technology, strategy, economic, procurement and finance experts can also provide strategic, technical and procurement support, research and economic analysis and can source private funders to finance the development of digital infrastructure.

Connected North will return to Manchester in 2023, before that, why not join us for Connected Britain in London in September?