Telco power and carbon taxes....

So Australia has the dreaded carbon tax.....

For those of you not in Australia and may not be aware of this, the government here introduced a carbon tax / pricing scheme last weekend and it prompted me to have a think about how legislation like this might affect wireless/mobile telcos.

The most obvious area is in power for sites.  Power consumption of base stations is certainly not as bad as it used to be but it’s still a twofold problem; firstly getting the power to the site, particularly in regional areas and secondly the operational cost of the power bill, be it either from a power supplier or in fuel for gensets.  This ,I think, has to be the main thrust of using renewable energy sources in Telco networks in that it’s not really about carbon taxes at all but simply about getting reliable supply to the site and trimming back the opex.

Regardless if its due to a price on carbon or just good operational business management, reducing costs and emissions has to be a good thing – it’s a well documented statistic that in India the mobile/wireless industry is one of the top five consumers of diesel fuel in the country so it doesn’t take a scientist to see the savings that even cutting fuel bills in half would make to network profits especially with the low ARPU’s there.  Here in Australia most sites are connected to mains power – why? Simply because they have always been and solar is only really getting a look in at remote locations where the cost of installing power lines is frightening.  It’s the same principal though – if smarter solutions are deployed that save power then the network operational costs go down and profits rise.

It’s important to understand as well that there is no single solution to this – adopting just renewable energy such as solar is not the whole answer – it needs to be a complete rethink on parameters of site designs.  A “whole of site” solution that involves wireless base stations that are heat ruggedized to a higher level, the use of free cooling units and fans, the use of shade (really cheap, really effective!!) through the range of solar panels and wind turbines powering batteries to keep the site running at a consistent and optimal power level.  In some cases this might be enough but if it is combined with a hybrid solution of either a cut into the mains or a genset start-up when the battery levels reach a predetermined level then the site will run very reliably with significant savings in energy costs.  There will be less emissions and less carbon used.  This should be at all sites, including urban rooftops, IBC’s and not just remote or rural sites – just the mix of solutions used may change to suit the site conditions.

All these solutions will be presented in detail at the “Smart Power for Smart Telecom Networks” conference and workshops in Sydney on 12 -13 September – http://bit.ly/mdCOWa

Of course in more rural areas using some surplus power to run common good infrastructure such as water pumps and the like is always a good side effect as well.

So where do I think carbon pricing/ taxes will impact us in the world of wireless and mobile networks – simple answer is steel towers.  The steel industry in Australia is getting compensation for a while due to the carbon pricing but most towers here are imported from Malaysia or China – so when these countries introduce a price on carbon, which they will, then steel prices will rise and so will tower costs.  In India this will have a bigger effect, depending upon when a carbon price / tax is introduced, given the huge numbers of towers currently manufactured there for the domestic and export markets. 

3g and LTE (4g) in India - (oh, and and my next speaking event!!)

One of the biggest drivers of change with the Indian economy will be the advent of data rich mobile/ wireless networks and data being available at affordable rates.  Abundant data availability will trigger entrepreneurs to sell their goods direct and on-line world wide and real steps will be made in mobile banking – this will cause a wave of growth and prosperity throughout the country.  Other benefits such networks allow are a comprehensive medical triage system using telemedicine and also educational uses.  In short the impact these networks shall have in India will be truly remarkable.

So why is even 3g taking so long to get out of the cities?  The reasons are many and complex but I see there being three main holdups:

Spectrum – the allocated spectrum was planned when the incredible explosion of data usage could not have been foreseen – therefore the spectrum bands are too narrow for effective deployments

Infrastructure – the costs of rolling out towers and power in particular to regional and remote areas makes little economic sense in terms of RoI and the Opex in power costs are unworkable.

Smartphones – the costs of iphones and blackberry devices is too high as it is for laptop computers with mobile broadband connectivity.

The mobile phone operators and the tower companies are doing what they can but they are basing roll-outs on this tight spectrum and also on outdated vertical infrastructure designs and even site layouts. 

So what is the solution?  OK let’s just for a minute “park” any political or commercial elements and look at pure solutions for these issues.

1. Spectrum – each operator has narrow spectrum availability and when the spectrum was first planned it was a different market – what would work is all the spectrum being handed back and re-farmed into decent options that allow high speed mobile data to be accommodated in sensible network planning.   Spectrum collaboration will allow better networks all round.

2. Infrastructure – the issue here is the cost and speed that network infrastructure is needed even to keep up with growing 2g (voice) subscribers. Newer, faster and more cost effective means of site roll-outs need to be adopted and in rural areas perhaps a government/ private partnership for the infrastructure would be the only way to make this work.  New materials, designs and renewable / hybrid power systems need to be adopted.

3. Handsets – It must surely only be a matter of time before a really affordable smartphone type product emerges from within India – maybe some manufacturers need to work together on this idea?

How could all of these things be achieved – well this is the biggest step – the current mobile operators and any new entrant would become Mobile Virtual Network Operators on a network that is rolled out as a single Government / Private (PPP) type model.  Spectrum would be amassed and used effectively in a single roll-out along with a single network build out.  Differing vendors could supply to different circles etc but with interoperability of standards this should be fine.  The tower companies would still be needed to roll-out sites of course and indeed would perhaps play a more pivotal role in this deployments model.  The operators would see savings in capex and opex and achieve their coverage quicker – and they would then be competing more openly on call rates as well. 

Throw an Indian made, affordable, smartphone into the mix and you would have more people connected to advanced networks faster than using the current methods.

If there was an appetite for this kind of solution (and I by no means think my ideas are the perfect solution – far from it!!) the time to start moving toward it will have to be sooner rather than later.

Anyway – closer to my Australian home – I’m speaking at the Smart Power for Smart Telco Networks in Sydney in September.  Ticket sales are now open and there are some pretty good speakers lined up and I understand tickets are selling well so I would get in quick!! Details can be found at

http://www.abovetheparapet.com.au/events/smart-power-for-smart-telecom-networks-2/

The Mobile Carriers Forum, a division of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association are also doing their worldwide launch of the “Mobile Networks Energy Efficiency Training Programme” at the event and I, for one, can’t wait to see and hear details of that at the event