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I have to confess, as much time as I spend texting, IMing, e-mailing, yakking, and Web surfing on my BlackBerry, I have never given a lot of thought to how much power cellular networks are sucking down worldwide. Turns out it’s a lot.

Turns out a communication service provider spends something like 10 percent of their total operating budget on energy. In developing markets, that figure can jump to 30 percent. The clamor for improving efficiency and reducing power consumption for the telecoms is the driver behind a new set of solutions from Nokia Siemens Networks

The new set of Energy Solutions for Telecoms Operators are designed to reduce network operating costs, and lower power use by combining more efficient technologies with renewable energy sources. According to the company, the product-services combo reduces energy use by improving the management of power demands for specific sites, such as mobile base stations. The Energy Solutions also enable more profitable and efficient rural network expansion by eliminating the need for things like diesel generators, for example.

Each element of Nokia Siemens Networks Energy Solutions targets a specific area of telecoms network energy consumption, management or sourcing. The portfolio consists of:

• Energy Modernization


• Off-Grid Site Solution


• Bad-Grid Site Solution


• Energy Efficiency Consulting


• Green Energy Control


• Energy OPEX Management

Among the key technologies within all elements of the portfolio is an intelligent energy control system, with remote monitoring capabilities of all power sources. This system manages battery charging and discharging and enables remote data collection and control.

“This marks an important milestone in our journey towards enabling the efficient and sustainable growth of our industry,” said Ashish Chowdhary, head of Services at Nokia Siemens Networks, in a statement. “[This has ] all the ingredients necessary for substantially reducing telecoms energy use and a shift towards renewable energy.”