Energy & Sustainability

American Tower Corporation a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate, says it plans to expand its solar energy park in order to support the sustainable expansion of its neutral fibre optic network in Brazil.

Operator Telecom Egypt has partnered with Huawei Technologies to implement what it describes as Africa’s first green towers.

Sustainability is in the news again with initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region and Armenia garnering headlines in recent days.

Amazon penned an agreement to develop four solar panel projects in Indonesia with state-owned energy company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN, AKA Pesero), from which it will acquire 210 megawatts of renewable energy capacity. 

Recent announcements in Cameroon and Kenya have underlined the importance to African communications of supporting – and being seen to support – sustainable approaches to energy and design.

American Tower Corporation’s African subsidiary ATC Africa and PowerX have announced a strategic partnership that, they say, will bring the efficiency and environmental benefits of PowerX’s artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to Africa’s telecommunications industry by optimizing energy usage at tower sites.

The role of solar power in enabling a sustainable approach to telecommunications provision has been underlined recently by initiatives in Chile and Zimbabwe.

IHS Towers, one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, has announced what it calls its Carbon Reduction Roadmap, with an emphasis on its African markets in particular.

Pan-African operator Airtel Africa and ATC Africa, American Tower Corporation’s African operation, have announced a multi-year, multi-product agreement.

M Auto, a leading provider of electric mobility solutions in Africa, says it is utilizing secure, intelligent IoT connectivity from Aeris, a global IoT solutions provider, to help enable sustainable transportation across the continent.

Telecoms giant Bharti Airtel says its subsidiary, Nxtra by Airtel, is to become the first data centre company in India to install fuel cell technology to provide clean energy. Nxtra designs, builds and operate the largest network of hyperscale, core and edge data centres in the country.

The search for clean, safe and cost-effective power-supplies for mobile networks continues with a fascinating new off-grid power solution being trialled in Romania.

Bangladeshi operator Robi Axiata has revealed plans to power more than 1600 base stations using renewable solar energy.

At Huawei’s Win-Win Innovation Week, Ryan Ding, President of Carrier BG, Huawei, gave a presentation entitled “Green ICT for New Value.”

Brazil may be about to join the rush to standardise smartphone chargers. The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), the Brazilian telecom regulator, has proposed making USB-C chargers mandatory for all smartphones sold in the country.

A remarkable concept that could support power-hungry data centres and reduce power-wasting and environmentally dangerous gas flaring looks like gaining some traction in the Middle East after two recently announced investment deals.

There’s been positive news on the sustainability front from operator MTN in Cameroon, which has announced a renewable energy initiative.

Rwandan firms HUI and Annos have signed agreements with off-grid energy equipment vendor Vanu.

Philippines-based operator Globe Telecom has ramped up its sustainability plans by committing to cut its carbon emissions by 50% in 2030, as part of its overall goal of being a net-zero operator by 2050.

HCL Technologies, a global technology company, has announced at MWC 2022 the launch of two new 5G applications to help mobile network operators optimize customer experience and reduce energy consumption across their 4G and 5G infrastructure.

Indian digital ICT solutions provider Sify Technologies Limited has concluded power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Vibrant Energy Holdings, which describes its  mission as 'to lead the transition of corporate and industrial customers to a more sustainable, resilient, and low-cost energy future', for 231 MW of solar and wind energy capacity.

Israeli fuel cell company GenCell announced a new solution that generates power from ammonia in off-grid locations for telecom infrastructure and mobile operators.

The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGMN Alliance), an open forum founded by leading mobile network operators, has announced the establishment of methodologies and KPIs for what it calls a Global Green Networks Benchmark.

Orange Polska has signed a new long-term PPA for the purchase of renewable energy in Poland.

Two very different recently announced initiatives are hoping to make some progress with the vexed question of managing data centre power use and emissions.

Parts of Africa may be able to look forward to a new approach to energy efficiency that could also benefit data centre rollout. This comes in the wake of an announcement from a company that aims to create a sustainable bridge between excess energy and the power needs of the high-performance computing industry.

An impressive example of telecommunications’ potential as a contributor to environmental awareness comes from Malaysia where operator edotco is helping to control greenhouse gas emissions in an ingenious way.

Indian operator Bharti Airtel says it has appointed a committee to work on its efforts towards an environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) initiative.

Airtel Africa, a provider of telecommunications and mobile money services with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, has announced the launch of a comprehensive – and ambitious – sustainability strategy.