Greentech Lead Europe: Ericsson, a telecom equipment
provider, has increased 3G/4G energy efficiency by 85 percent in base stations
over the last decade.
The gear maker is continuing to address the bandwidth
demands of the Networked Society, without increasing energy consumption per
subscriber.
Moreover, the Ericsson Psi-Coverage solution provides 3G
coverage with 45 percent energy savings compared to traditional solutions.
Psi-Coverage uses new Ericsson technology to boost coverage while enabling
significant energy and cost savings by using just one standard radio.
Ericsson’s annual Sustainability and Corporate
Responsibility report said the ICT industry can help lead the transition to a
low-carbon economy through greater resource efficiency.
The ICT sector contributes 2 percent of global carbon
dioxide emissions, but can potentially offset a significant portion of the
remaining 98 percent from other industries.
Ericsson’s research indicates that the increase in
overall energy consumption from ICT will be moderate, thanks to gains in
network energy efficiency, through 2020.
“We anchor our approach to sustainability and
corporate responsibility in the triple bottom line of responsible social,
economic and environmental development. We continuously raise the bar on our
own sustainability performance, and seek to deepen our understanding of
stakeholders’ top concerns,” said Hans Vestberg, Ericsson President and
CEO.
By 2016, densely populated urban areas representing less
than 1 percent of the Earth’s total land area will generate around 60 percent
of mobile traffic.
To increase network capacity in such areas, Ericsson will
build heterogeneous networks, whereby powerful macro-radio base stations are
complemented by smaller pico and micro base stations, which provide extra
capacity for areas with high demand. With a nearby low power node, we can
off-load the high power nodes, thus saving energy.