Pakistan's Warid Involved in GSMA Mobile Energy Efficiency optimisation Project

The GSMA has announced the completion of its second Mobile Energy Efficiency (MEE)  Optimisation project, located in Pakistan, working in conjunction with mobile operator  Warid Telecom and systems integrator Cascadiant.

The project trialed innovative  energy-saving technology in Warid’s network and demonstrated significant energy  savings of between 30 and 60 per cent. When the solutions are rolled out across  Warid’s network in Pakistan, the annual savings are expected to be more than  US$6 million and 19,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The GSMA also announced  that Eltek, Enertika, PowerOasis and Purcell Systems have joined the GSMA’s MEE  programme as technology partners. The companies are working with the GSMA to  deliver MEE Optimisation projects for mobile network operators (MNOs) who wish  to reduce their networks’ energy consumption and cost, as well as carbon  emissions.

“It is fantastic that  this MEE Optimisation project in Pakistan has already successfully demonstrated  significant cost savings and emissions reductions, and is clearly showing the  benefits of the service to our members,” said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory  Officer, GSMA. “The GSMA is also delighted to welcome these four companies as  MEE Optimisation technology partners to deliver real cost savings and environmental  benefits for operators.”

The project was  conducted on ten cell sites across various geographies in Pakistan, and the  technical solutions were trialled on four cell sites. These included Coolsure  high efficiency telecom air-conditioners, GE’s Sodium Nickel Chloride Durathon*  battery and a Ballard methanol fuel cell back-up power system. Deployment  of the solutions across Warid’s network has already begun, with 200 DC (direct  current) air-conditioners being installed.

“Energy efficiency and  network quality are among the key focus areas for Warid Telecom to reduce  energy costs and go green, with added reliability and availability of backup power.  We are delighted to carry out this MEE Optimisation project, leveraging the innovative  solutions from the partners and the GSMA’s expertise. We now have clear  visibility of the significant potential from the MEE Optimisation project and  we hope to implement these learnings and solutions network-wide, not only to improve  energy and cost efficiency, but also network availability and quality,” said Muhammad  Irfan Chaudhry, Chief Technology Officer, Warid Telecom.

“Cascadiant was honoured to be chosen to lead this  project in support of the GSMA’s MEE Optimisation initiative to make networks  greener cost-effectively. Cascadiant shares the view with our partners that  technologies exist today that will allow operators to significantly reduce a  broad range of emissions and their carbon footprint, while at the same time to  reduce their energy costs and greatly improve their networks’ reliability,”  stated Marshall Towe, Founder and CEO, Cascadiant.

Launched  in 2010, the GSMA’s MEE Benchmarking service is a management tool that helps  MNOs measure and monitor the relative efficiency of their networks. It  identifies under-performing networks and quantifies the potential efficiency  gains available, typically around 10 to 25 per cent across a MNO’s portfolio.  More than 35 MNOs, running more than 200 networks across 145 countries, are now  participating in MEE Benchmarking. MEE Optimisation is an additional service that  builds on the results from the GSMA’s MEE Benchmarking tool. The service uses site  audits to enable an analysis of the costs and benefits of specific actions to  reduce energy and emissions, and equipment trials to deliver real performance  data, which together will assist MNOs in selecting the solutions that will best  address their requirements.

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