Nokia Siemens adopts 'green' policy to cut costs

Nokia Siemens announced an energy-efficient mobile network equipment package, the first announcement of more to come that show a commitment to improving the energy consumption of its network gear, the company said.

The package includes software that can reduce the energy used by base stations by setting some components to enter a power-saving mode at night, a time when network traffic dramatically decreases.

Another feature changes the minimum temperature requirement for a base station. While base stations are typically stored indoors where the air is cooled to around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) Nokia Siemens found that increasing the temperature to closer to 40 degrees Celsius can reduce energy consumption at the site by as much as 30 percent.

Nokia Siemens' energy-efficient package also includes network-planning tools that can allow operators to use fewer base stations, which would also save on energy costs.

The company plans to reduce the energy consumption of its base stations from 800 watts for GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications) today to 650W and from 500W for WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) to 300W by 2010.

The base-station energy-savings initiative is the first of others to come from the company, which said that it is committed to improving the environmental impact of telecommunications infrastructure.

The move is better for the environment but also saves money for operators, Nokia Siemens said.

In addition, lower energy use can make telecommunication infrastructure more attractive in emerging markets without an extensive electric grid. Nokia Siemens isn't alone in targeting these regions. For example, Motorola earlier this year said it would test sun and wind-powered base stations in Namibia. Siemens, before its merger with Nokia, supplied solar-powered base stations in Malawi.