1. Green Power for Mobile
2. Innovation from the Indian Sub-Continent
3. Community Power from Mobile

The first section contains a market analysis of green power solutions for East Africa, an approach to managing site security and access control provided by Eaton Towers Uganda, an overview of the tower sharing business model in Indonesia, and a review of Globe Telecom Inc.’s Network Transformation Programme in the Philippines.

With a specific focus on India, the second section focuses on the progress of green telecoms in India and green technology in the telecoms sector.

Finally, the third section is dedicated to Community Power from Mobile, and discusses opportunities to improve community energy and water access, as well as mobile commerce. It also includes a look at solar power in Mozambique and features a case study on sustainable energy and water through machine-to-machine (M2M) technology.

Read the Bi-annual Report

The data is categorised in to a number of sectors which in most cases correspond to a Mobile for Development programme. Those interested in data relevant to the Green Power for Mobile programme should look at the Green Networks Sector as their first port of call. Key metrics hosted here include CO₂ emissions, energy contribution from combustible waste, fossil fuel energy consumption, number of renewable energy base stations, diesel fuel price as well as a database of relevant organisations and their products and services.

The individual metrics can bring significant understanding for stakeholders to identify the right approach to become more efficient and green. For example, energy contribution from combustible waste represents the potential total energy contribution from combustible waste source. If the current contribution is lower, this indicates that there is an opportunity to utilise this solution. The cross metrics comparison can also be very useful for stakeholders. For example, if fossil fuel consumption and CO₂ consumption is higher but renewable base station is lower, this indicates that more base stations should be converted to renewables to reduce GHG emission.

Coming soon to MDI’s sector pages is Energy Access via Mobile, which will host the newly created Community Power from Mobile deployment tracker as well as providing access to various metrics that will be useful to business decision makers keen to extend modern energy services to off-grid communities.

The forum discussed the ever-increasing fuel prices and high operational costs as key drivers for going green. MEE recently completed an energy benchmarking study for the SingTel Group and came up with a certain potential cost saving figure. The forum was set to identify an aspiration and to achieve the goal of OPEX saving and energy optimisation. It was noteworthy that each of SingTel’s operating companies have taken significant efforts to do what they can to achieve their target. With the operating companies being so geographically diverse, it was interesting to see how their strategy changed from region to region based on local circumstances.

GPM presented our fuel cell white paper, which was published earlier this year, and shared case studies on two successful projects in Asia and Africa. Since HOMER can be a very useful tool for the operators, we also provided all the attendees with a short training session on the dimensioning process and its usefulness.

A few selected vendors presented their energy management-related solutions and strategies to the group.

The SingTel Group is very keen to take their energy initiatives further and bring a significant amount of efficiency into their networks. Both GSMA’s MEE and GPM programmes will continue to working closely with SingTel to assist them where possible in their target of sustainable growth.

The case for green power adoption in Africa’s telecom industry is more challenging, not so much due to technical barriers, but due to the operational barriers. Despite the good potential for green power, especially for solar, adoption is still very much in its initial stages. A quick view at the field level operations and its imminent intricacies gives an idea of the handicapped adoption of green power in telecoms.

The MNOs and tower companies are constantly on the lookout for partners and long term operational support to enable successful adoption of green power at a scale. The industry is still to see a proven model for energy provision through the ESCO model: an energy outsourcing model bringing in a third party energy service company (ESCO).

In the past, energy provision to the telecom infrastructure has been short-sighted owing to its exponential growth focusing on service expansion and coverage. With increased competition and demand for quality services at reduced prices, the focus on cost of operations should move from short term quick fixes to a long term strategic view in order to sustain margins and market share.

Energy remains a key contributor to the costs of operating mission critical telecom assets. The MNOs and tower companies need to look at green power as a strategic step towards OPEX reduction and sustainable energy provision with positive environmental impacts. The key is in implementation of green power strategy and monitoring with fool proof operational processes to sustain and realise investment benefits.

The Green Power for Mobile (GPM) programme, with its renewed focus for Africa, is keen to assist MNOs, TowerCos and other stakeholders in the industry through its expertise in technology, business model development and end-end technical assistance. Nigeria is one of key focus markets for GPM, along with Ghana in West Africa, with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda being other key focus markets in East Africa.

Taking Indonesia as an example, the energy conservation baseline is in accordance with the PP 70/2009 Act, an extension of the Act PP 30/2007 in which it states that everyone deserves energy, and that it is the government’s obligation to preserve energy source for all citizens.

Data from Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) indicates that more than 25% of households in Indonesia live without access to electricity. This number will continue to grow if industry players do not move towards renewable energy for least 40% of Indonesia’s national energy consumption.

On the other hand, the use of renewable energy has a targeted growth of 5% according to Act PP 5/2006 by 2025. However, renewable energy has issues of its own. For example, solar deployment can cost operators around US$40,000 to 50,000 for a 1kW–1.5kW load. Because of these issues, there is no incentive at the moment for the industry to include a renewable component.

So energy conservation is an investment and the government must protect this investment. The renewable ecosystem will undoubtedly grow in Indonesia if concessions are made such as tax reductions or exceptions, as well as incentives or permissions to import renewable energy technology. In this next phase of our programme, the Green Power for Mobile team will have a more proactive approach in Indonesia, particularly at the government level, to influence an incentive scheme for renewable technology in the country.

Security is one of the biggest challenges in managing a network of sites for a telecom operator. “Close to 180 battery banks were either tampered or stolen in the last 6 months,” says one telecom operator in Uganda. Tampering or theft of critical power equipment will power down the site and affect the revenue generation potential of the site, due to forgone revenue during the period of down time.

Additionally, the more remote sites present an accessibility challenge which adds to the delays in response and affects the site uptime Service Level Agreements for the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) operators.

Often, the response to site security and accessibility is reactive rather than proactive. Preventive and proactive measures to address these challenges would require fool proof processes in addition to the systems and technology. Proven remote monitoring systems supported by innovative O&M processes would enable operators and tower companies to actively monitor site security and control access to the site.

However, a site’s field staff is also an important consideration. As a risk advisory and security expert of one of the major tower companies in East Africa explains, “Proven technology and processes would be of less use without a proper vetting of the field staff hired by the O&M sub-contractor.”

For more information about theft at telecom sites, view the Bi-Annual Report from December 2011.

Since it’s the first event of this kind for telecom in Bangladesh, the delegates were very enthusiastic and interactive. The day-long event was divided into 5 sessions:

• GSMA and IFC spoke at the opening session on their overall target to promote green power, particularly in Bangladesh.
• Grameenphone and Robi Axiata spoke sharing their experience as operators talking about several of their green and energy efficiency initiatives.
• The third session introduced new green technology–We chose fuel cells and biogas– and Ballard, the world’s leading fuel cell provider, and Emergence Bioenergy spoke on the two green technologies.
• Energy outsourcing is one of the core interests from the telecom industry in Bangladesh. To address this, we invited Applied Solar Technologies and KMRI to speak on their energy outsourcing models.
• Finally, a break-out session was conducted to discuss challenges of going green and the CAPEX vs. OPEX model.

Overall, the Working Group managed to create a great initial progress in encouraging the stakeholders to be more pro-active to take this initiative one step further.

For more details, please read our Highlights from the Working Group

Diesel generators have long been the choice of backup power; however, the diesel power dominance is on the downward roll with operators looking at alternatives to diesel power, due to the high costs associated with diesel and the inherent operational issues.

MNOs and tower companies have taken the diesel power OPEX seriously and have drafted various approaches to reduce the dependence on diesel power as part of their OPEX reduction & control strategy. In the short term, they have adopted hybrid solutions to reduce the consumption of diesel at telecom sites. Some of them have also trialled innovative alternatives, such as gas-based generator technologies to address various challenges inherent with diesel-based generators.

The adoption of green power technologies, such as solar and wind, has been inadequate despite having good resource potential. The upfront CAPEX requirement, scalability, operational issues in terms of equipment theft, and increasing site loads in a multi-tenant scenario are some of the hindering elements for the adoption of green power technologies.

Alternative business models are emerging to address the challenges of powering telecoms infrastructure. One of the tower operators has received a power outsourcing proposal from a  3^rd party Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) for outsourcing power provision to the telecom infrastructure on a per kWh price. The 3^rd party ESCO model is still at the initial stages, as operators are at the phase of understanding and evaluating business model and its impact on the business.

The Green Power for Mobile (GPM) programme, with its renewed focus for Africa, is keen to assist MNOs, tower companies and other stakeholders in the industry through its expertise in technology, business model development and end-end technical assistance. Nigeria is one of key focus markets for GPM, along with Ghana in West Africa while Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are GPM’s key focus markets in East Africa.

1. Karl Kolmsee of Smart Hydro Power presented a recently developed and successfully tested pico-hydro solution for telecom towers that is very suitable for locations around India.
2. Firas Ahmad of Emergence Bioenergy brought the new concept of utilising biogas for telecom towers using the OPEX model. The solution is highly efficient and environmentally friendly on multiple levels.
3. Umang Das, the Director General of TAIPA, and Rajan Mathews, the Director General of COAI, spoke about how the Indian mobile industry is contributing to the national economy, and why promoting green power is a priority on their agenda.
4.  J. K. Roy; Member- technology, P. K. Panigrahi; Senior DDG and K. K. Minocha: DDG of USOF represented the Department of Telecom (under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology) described government initiatives to promote telecom services for rural communities.
5. Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) presented their recent findings on solar market trends and development.
6. Alok Goel of Ballard Power Systems presented the current market trend of fuel cells in telecom and other industries. He also spoke about why fuel cells could be the ideal solution for India.
7. The post-lunch session kicked off with a short briefing by Areef Kassam on the GSMA’s Green Power for Mobile programme.
8. Delegates were divided into two groups for a break out session. Each group discussed the same topics: New Technology Adaptability, Risk & Mitigation and Future Trends for the Market. Mixed feedback was received from both groups.
9. Manoj Kumar Singh of TAIPA presented their in-house business model for encouraging RESCO towards the telecom power generation and management business. He described how community inclusion could enhance the possibility of such models.
10. The last speaker, Mary Roach of GSMA’s Community Power from Mobile, described the current status of the Programme and the different approaches being promoted for community based energy services using mobile infrastructure.

It was a very interactive and successful Working Group which shared industry views and disseminated knowledge & experience. The GSMA will arrange the similar event next year with a progressive agenda.

Ucell, with its network spanning across 13 regions in Uzbekistan, has been facing acute challenges in terms powering the network and has experienced severe network downtime across the network, thus affecting its revenue potential. We conducted a thorough analysis and design in accordance with the GPM Feasibility Study Methodology, and came up with recommendations to overcome the challenges of energy provision to the network, thereby improving the network uptime to 99.98% from the current 80%. Our green power recommendations demonstrated a savings of ~7.8 million litres per year in diesel consumption for the complete network of close to 2400 base station sites.

The Green Power Feasibility study for Geocell’s network demonstrated a savings of ~8,600 litres of diesel per site per year by implementing our green power recommendations. We also analysed the possibility of connecting the off-grid sites to reliable grid power and suggested that 53 sites out of 114 off-grid sites are most suitable for grid extension as compared to green power deployment.

For further details, please refer to the published case studies available on the resources section of our website. For any further information on engaging with us on a Green Power Feasibility studies, please get in touch at greenpower@gsm.org.