Telcos have a pivotal role to play in shaping the future by bringing the power of broadband and the applications it supports, such as video-conferencing and high-speed data sharing, to replace all but essential travel. But, let’s not forget the role that telecoms equipment vendors have to play in designing energy efficient equipment too. As companies continue to expand their need to serve applications, increase storage, and expand communications, power consumption of these systems is increasingly scrutinized. Minimizing power usage is not just good for the environment, it’s good for business.
In the case of WiMAX providers, the challenge is to maintain coverage and capacity while reducing the number of base station sites and, at the same time, optimizing the power used at each site – no easy task! But, achieving this could mean that in the future base stations could be powered by alternative energy sources, such as solar power.
Recognising that energy costs have sky-rocketed and operators are experiencing ever-higher scrutiny of their business models, Airspan has introduced the MacroMAXe base station, which promises to reduce base station energy costs by 60-70%.