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I
INDUSTRY
lndian
Telecom
TowardsaGreener
Future
The lndian
telecom
isall
set
lor
a
the regulatory
body,TRAI,
lor
the
telecomand
ICT
sectors.greenertouchwith the renewed
push
lrom
use
ol
eco-friendlygreenequipmentin thetelecom equipmentandincentive for
their
adoption,
and aframeworkfor
monitoring
carbonemissionand
correc-
tive
actionfor
telecom
sector.
Equipmentvendors
such
as
Ericsson,
tower
companies
including
Bharti Infratel
and
network
services
providerGTL
are
investing
big bucks
in
bringing
out
green products
and
solu-
tions
to
slash
their
operating
costs.
While apan-India
deployment
looks
some
time
away, upto
20Vo
reduction
in
energy requirements
is
achieveable
in
the near
future,
said
industry
experts.
The
going green
mantra
In
recent times,
telecomcompanies are
switching
over
to
new sustainable
en-
ergy sources
to
operate
their
towers.
Presently,
there
are more
than
three
lakh
towers
in
India
thatrunwith
ap-
proximately2
billion
liters
of
diesel
per yearby
emitting
5
million
tons of
COz
perannum
with
the operating
ex-penses
of$1.4bn, i.e.,
almostone-third
of
the
total
operatingexpenditure.
Op-
erators
usually
spend
almost
two-
thirds
of
their
total
costs
onnetwork,
and
in
states
like
UP
and
Bihar,
al-
most
40Vo
of
towers
are
stationed
inrural
areas
where
there
is
a
huge
power
shortage,andhence
the
operators have
to
depend
on
diesel-poweredgenera-
tors
and
other
cooling
equipment forrunning
the
towers.
Many
of
thesegen-
eratorsare
as
old as
10
yearsand
are
noteffrcient
in
terms
of usage of diesel
and
consume
morediesel
than
re-
quired.
Moreover,as
the
towersin-stalled are
quite
old,
they
consume
moreenergy,
i.€.,from
1000-3000watts. This
inturn
releases
huge vol-
umes
of
carbondioxide
into
the
eco
sys-
tem.
This
method isuneconomical and
unfriendly
to
theenvironment.Undeniably,energy consumption
is
the
majoroperating
expense
for
both
ike
every
otherindustry
on the
planettoday,
the
global
tele-
communications
industryis
be-
coming
consciousof
the
consequences
ofclimate
change.
Indian
telecomindus-
try,
which
has
been
witnessing
unprec-edented
growth
forover
a
decade
now,is
also
followingsuit
by
gradually
shifting
its
focus
towards
sustainable
and
eco-
friendly
operations.
This
is
where
'GreenTelecom'
steps
in.
In
fact,'Going
green'is
now
aneces-
sity ratherthan
an
option
for
telecom
operators,
thanks
to
nose-divingmar-
grnsdue
to
tariffwars.
With
energy
ex-penses
amounting to nearly
25Vo
of
the
total
network
operating
costs,
efficient
powermanagementholds
the key
to
improving
their
performance.
Opera-tors
are
thereforeexploring
all
possibleways to
cut
down
its
dependenceon
die-
40
I
May
2011
I
sel
and
opt
forgreenertechnologies. The
government
also
seems
to begeared
up
to encourage
a
discernible
change
inthepower
usage
pattern
of
the
telecom
in-
dustry.
Accordingto
the
International
Tele-
communicationUnion(ITU)report,the
Indian
telecommunication
sector
con-
tributes
2-2.5Vo
to
theglobal
carbonemission. The
figures
are
all
the
more
alarming
forthe
developingcountries
like
India.
Consequently,
the
Telecom
Regulatory
Authority
of
India
(TRAI)
also
c€rme
up
with
a
consultationpaperon'green
telecom'
which
offersguidance
forthe
useof
eco-friendlyequipment
in
theICT
sector.
Thepaper
addressed
critical
issues
like
the
optionstoreduce
the
carbon
footprint
in
the
telecom
in-
dustry,
the
need
for
carbon
creditpolicy
forthe
sector,
standardization
ofgreen
I
The
Analysl
I
 
lndian Telecom
The
telecomsectorisprovidinglakhs
of
jobs,
butit isalso
givingcancer and other serioushealth
problems
to
lakhs
of
people,besides
causingharm
to
birds,animals, trees,
etc.
The
telecomsector claims that
it
is
the
fastestgrowingindustry,
but
it
is
also
creating the
fastestgrowing
health
problems,
and
that
is
the
reason
why
healthand environment
min-
istries
are
afterthem.
The
telecom sector saysthat
it is
providingthe cheapest services
in
the
world,
but
ittakes
money
from
even
thepoor-est of
the
people
in
the
country
andalsogetsgovernment
subsidy;
and
thennearly
40o/o
ot
the
totalcollectedmoney
goes
to foreignven-
dors.
lf
thetechnologyhad
beendevelopedandmanufactured in lndia,
the
money would
have remained within
the
country and
alsocreatedmillionsofjobs.
Recommendations
to
reduce
carbonlootprint
o
Thegovernmentmustadoptimmediately
a
policy
to
reducethe
transmittedpowerto
a
maximumof
1
to
2W,which
will
pro-
tect
the
health
of the
people
from
theharmful
effects
of
celltower
radiation.
fixedand
mobile
network
operators.Nevertheless,
the
sources
ofpower
are
narrow
in
mostof
the
developedna-tions. According
toGirishKumar,
Pro-
fessor,
Electrical Engineering
Depart-
ment,
IIT
Bombay,
"Thereare
morethan
4.5
lakh
towers
in
the
country
as
of
20LI
and due
to
shortage of
powernearly
59Vo
of
therequirement
is
met
through
dieselgeneratorsand
this
causes
pollution."Hence,
a few
corporates
have
beengoinggreen
to
reduce
their
carbon foot-
print.
According
to
an
industry
report,
all
these
factors
will
continue
to
con-
vergeover
the
next
severalyears
and'green'
network
equipment
will
grow
to
represent
46Vo
of
the
$277
bn
global
telecom
infrastructure
market
by
2013.
Deploying renewable
sources
Companies
are
takingup
CSRstrate-
gres
in
anattempt
to
gain
competitive
edge.
Their'go
green'
strategies are
fo-
cused
on
better
technolory,
renewable
energies,
improving
efficiencies
and
networksharing.
At
the
same
time,
I
The
Analyst
I
Thismay
createsignalproblem
to
thepeopleliving
near
theedge
of
thecircle
in
the
beginning;hence,
a
public
an-
nouncement
mustbe
made
thatit is
be-
ing
done
to
protect
the
health
of
thepeople.
The
people
mustbe
educated
about
the
adversehealtheffects
of
cellphoneandcell
tower
radiations.Once
the
powertransmitted
is
reduced,
poweramplifiers may not be
requiredat
most
of
theplaces,and
no
cooling
will
be
required.
This
will
reduce
the energy
re-
quirementsubstantially,
which
can
be
easilymanaged withthe
renewable
energysources.
0ncethepower
requirement
is
reduced,DG
will
notbe
required
in
mostof
theplaces.This
will
also
save
the diesel sub-
sidy
amount
of
Rs
1
,400
crlyear,Theabovemeasures
will
reducecarbonfootprint,therebygeneratingcarbon cred-
its.
Self-certification/regulation
must not
be
allowed.Thegovernment
must
enforcestringentpolicies
to
monitor
the
radiation
there is
a
need
for thegovernmentto act
promptly
on
the
right
time.
Thegovern-
ment
should
make
a
call
to
think
be-
yond
carbon-emitting
sources
like
die-
sel
toshift
towardsgreener
energy
sources
such
as
wind, LNG
(Liquefied
Natural
Gas),
PNG(Piped
Natural
Gas),
CNG
(Compressed
Natural
Gas)
and
so
on.
Amongthe renewable
enerry
sources,
solar
is
the cost-effectiveenergysource
that
can beproduced
on alarge
scale
in rural
areas.
Presently,
the
op-
eratorsenjoy
307o
subsidy
for
renew-ableenergy, and
in
the
recent
budget,
the
government
has
announced
50Vo
subsidy
for
solarprojects.Also,
unnec-essarysubsidiesondiesel
should
be
di-vertedtowardsefficient
usageof
renew-ableenergy
sources.
According
to
India's
iGovernment
website,
"A total
of
250,000
cellphone
towerscan be converted
tothe
renew-
able energy
solution,
including
32,500
fromGTL
Infra,
100,000
fromIdea
Cel-
lular,
50,000
from
Reliance
Infratel,
and
another
30,000
from
Bharti
Infratel."
Analysts
opine
that the
pro-
level,
air
pollutionlevel,
etc.
near
the
cell
towers.
Monitoring
mustbe
done
by
a
thirdparty,and
extremelyheavypenalty
must
be handedoutincase of anyviola-tion,as
it is
directly
related
to the
health
of
thepeople,birds,animals, trees, environ-
ment,
etc.
All
the
peoplelivingclose
to
the
towelwho
havesuffered
from
high
radiation,
must be
compensated.
lt
should
come
under
thecorporate socialresponsibility.Greater
emphasismust
begiven
to
R&D
to
develop better solutions.
lndigenousdevelopment
and
lndian
manufacturers must
be
given preference.Thegovernmentmust make a
rule
that at
least
90%
of the
telecom-relatedproducts
mustbe
manufactured
in
lndia.
This
willhelpcreate
millions of
jobsin
lndia,
and
alsomost
of
the money
will
remain within
the
country.
-
Girish
Kumar
Professor, Electrical Engineering Department
llT
Bombay, Powai, Mumbai
posed
greentelecomproject
would
re-
duce
5
million
tons of
carbon dioxideemissions and
save$1.4
bn
of
cost
forthe tower
companies.
Further,a
few
industry
experts
have recommended
certain
ways
for
ef-
ficient i*plementationof
greentelecom.
They
are:
"All
new
telecom
towersshould
be
running
on
the renew-able/greenenergy
with
a
407o
load
fac-
tor;all
operators should
roll
out
a
plan
to
move
all
towers
from
conventionalenergy
to
renewableenergy as stated
in
point
l,
and
by
March
3L,
2020 no
tower
shouldbe
runningon
conven-
tional
energy;
all
network
components
should
reduce
their
energy
usage
57o
YoY
for
the next
5years
and
2Vo
YoYaftenvards
if
not
running
on
renewableenergy;
and
inefficient
gensets(olderones)
shouldbe
replaced
in
the
nexttwo
years."
Therenewable
revolution
However,
some
sections of
the
industryhave
expressed concerns
overimple-
mentation. They havemade an
appeal
I
May
2011
I
41
 
lndustry
r
$
C
Khanna
r
Uikram
Tiwathia..andQUALCOMM,
4s
also
the
telecom
infrastructure
provid-ers
INDUS
Towersand
VIOM
have
proactively
committed
themselvestothe
causeof
energyefficiency,cleanenergy
and
climate
change
mitigationbyinvesting
in
a
host
of
telecom
products
and
senrices
that
areincreasingly
contributing
to-
wards
buildinga
greener
tomorrow,
while
helping
thecountry's
economy.Senrice
providershave
in
place'green
powey'
programs,
exploringthe
use
of
awide
range
oftechnolo-
gr€s,
such
as
bio-diesel,
fuel
cells,
pico-hydro,
wind
andphoto-
voltaic
panels.
Whatare
the
business
opportunitiesand
Ghallengesassociated
with
green
telecominilialives?
S
C
Khanna:
As
networks
are
expandingandmore operators
areenteringthe
telecom
field,
the
challenges
related
to
pro-
viding
electricityto
these
expandingnehvorks
are becoming
greater,paving
way
for
opportunities
to exploit
green
tech-nologies
efficiently.
The
key
driver
to demonstratethe
cost
of
enerry
efficiency
improvement
is
throughTotal
Costof
Own-
ership.
The
ultimate
goalof
a1l
companies
is to
becomecarbon-
neutral,
and
the onlywayfor
most
companies
to
achieve
azero
footprintis through
carbonoffsets
andimplementation
ofenerg;r-efficienttechnologies
which
a^re
essentialrepresen-
tations
of
a
reduction
in
GHG
emission.Carbonoffsetsserve
as
a
wayformore andmore countriesand corporationsto
earn
carbon
creditswhichthey
can
then trade
in
an
open
market-
place.
This
can
encourage
comparries
to
go
green
because
they
can earn
byselling
their
creditstoother
companies
that
may
be
struggting
to comply
with
themandate.Carbon
exchanges,
where
companies
can buy/selland
trade
carbon
credits,
areoperating worldwide,althoughparticrpation
in
many
of
themis
still
voluntry,
and
will
open
avenues
for
comparries/corpo-
rations to
assistgreen
telecom
initiatives.Equipment
vendorshave
uln
excellentbusiness
case
for
supplyrngenerry-effi.cientand
cost-effective
nehvork
equip-ments.The
senrice
providers,
in
spite
of
their
efforts
and best
intentions,
have
not
been able
to
deploysuch
alternative
en-
ergy
sources as
solar/wind/fuelcells
in
large
scale,as theseare
very
costlyand are
economically
unviable.
Enerry
costs
are
among
thelargestoperating
expenses of
nehvork
opera-
tors, andenerry
consumption
from
telecomnehvorks
is
anincreasing
contributor
to
globat
GHG
emissions.
This
envi-
ronmental
issue
requires
initiatives
to improve
the
enerry
efficiency
of
telecom
networks and
reduce
their
associated
carbon
emissions.The renewable
sources
and othernon-conventional
enerry
required
for
telecom sector
should
be
available
at
affordablecosts.
Thepresent
cost
structure
for utilizing
alternative
"'Goinggteen'has
become
a
necessity
in
a
market
wheremarginsare
constantlyteducing
due
to
tailll
leductions
and
increasing
cost
ol
inputs
lor
serviceprovidets
and
manufacturets."
The
lndian telecom sector
is
aspiring
for
enuironmentallysustainabletechniquest0 telecommunicate.Howdoyousee
this
trend?
S
C
l*ranna:
Indian
telecomsector
is
going
through
anun-precedentedphase,
resulting
in
massiveexpansion
of
the
telecom
nehvorks
across
thecountry.
The
growth
oftelecoffi,
thoughhaving
a
corresponding
impact
on
environment,is
as-
sisted
by the
green
telecom
initiative
undertaken
by
the
member
senrice
providers.Thegrowth
ofgreentelecom
poses
an
upward
trend
elic-
ited
by
the
deployment
of alternate
sources
of
energyandenerry-efficient
technologies
by
the
senrice
providers,
which
directlyimpact the
emission
of
greenhouse
gases
(GHG).
Tltis
era
of
green
revolution
opens
upnew avenuesfor
the
develop-
ment
ofgreentechnologies
andoptimum
utilization
of
alter-nate
sourcesofenergies.Senrice
providers,
with
government
support,aimto
bring
aboutarevolutionary
change
in
the
possibleusage
ofrenewable
sonrces
of
energyand
thus
help
in
the
considerable
reduction
of
GHG
emissions.
VikramTiwathia:
As
energycosts
continue
to
climb, busi-
nesses
aroundthe
world
are
lookingfor
new waysto
consen/e
energy and
resources.
This
is
especially
crucial
for the telecomsector,\Mith
enerry
expenses
constitutingamajorchunkof
nehvork operating
costs.
The
Indian
telecom
senrice
providers
are
fully
consciousof
the
needs
pertaining
to
the
choiceof
theequipment
they
use
\\rith
a
diligent
evaluationof
the
powerrequirements.
'Going
green'has
become a
necessity
in
a
mar-
ketwhere
margins
are
constantly
reducing
due to
tariffreduc-tions
andincreasing
cost of
inputsfor
service
providers
and.
manufacturers.
With
3G and4G
technologiescoming
into the
picture,
data
traffic
is
bound
to
increase
drasticallywhich
would
make telecom
companies
aspire
to
use
enerry-efficient
net-worksand data
centers.
Also,
the
Next-GenerationNehvorks(NGNs)
that
allowvoice
and datafunctionality
onto
a
common
networkinfra-
structure-which
wasnot
the
case
earlier,
8s
therewas
aneed
to
have separatenehvorks
for
voice
and
data-would
have
a
positive
effect
in
reducing
power
requirements.
Which leadingproviders,0EMs(Original
Equipment Manufacturers),andtechnology companies
are
heading
the
green
telecom
initiatiue?
S
CKhanna:
Our
member
senrice
providersand
othertelecomserviceproviders
are efficiently
deploying
greentelecom
technologies.
Withrapid
expansion
of existing
net-
works
due
to addition
of
subscribers,
theroleofenergy effi-
ciency
is
considerate.
As regards OEMs,most
of
theleadingequipmentmanufacturers
are
adopting
greentelecom
initia-
tive
intheir
device
and equipmentmanufacturing.
VikramTiwathia:
Our
members,Ericsson,
Huawei,
Cisco,
42
IMay
2011
I
I
The
Analysl
I
of 00

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