The French regulator has shone a light on energy consumption of 5G networks and environmentally friendly approaches to using the 26GHz band
Leading the work on sustainability from a regulatory point of view: Arcep has been a pioneering regulator with regard to sustainability in the telecoms industry. The authority has had its eyes on the issue since 2019, and in June 2020 launched a platform for ‘Digital Sustainability’ to steer future policy and regulation in this area, which it considers “a new chapter in regulation”. On 14 January, Arcep published two reports on the energy consumption of 5G and on building environmental considerations into the upcoming award of the 26GHz band.
5G networks could be significantly greener than 4G in densely populated areas: The first study assesses the impact of introducing 5G in the 3.5GHz band, comparing a network with combined 4G and 5G deployment with a scenario where only 4G is deployed. By 2028, 5G deployment could generate energy savings of up to 10 times the energy consumption of 2020 in areas of high traffic density (e.g. highly populated areas). Similarly, avoided greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) could be up to eight times the level of GHG emissions in 2020. However, energy gains will be negligible for less-densely populated areas, and GHG emissions could actually see a slight increase until 2028. The study has some limitations – for example it assumes that mobile data grows by 30% annually, without considering the accelerated growth that could come from 5G (i.e. the ‘rebound effect’). It also does not cover the provision of new services to verticals, and simply focuses on deployment of 5G for capacity-related purposes. However, the report notes that other factors could help limit energy consumption even further (e.g. activating network sleep mechanisms at night).
Using the 26GHz band with the environment in mind: The French Government asked Arcep how to take environmental issues into consideration when setting the criteria for the assignment of the 26GHz band for 5G. To draft its response, in November Arcep consulted the members of its Digital Sustainability platform, and has now published the results of the workshop. Stakeholders broadly agreed on the need to avoid a proliferation of hardware. This could be achieved through targeted, localised network deployment, by facilitating network sharing, and by ensuring network equipment and terminals are not replaced too frequently. Disagreement emerged along the usual lines of regulation vs. innovation. Some stakeholders suggested limiting the uses of this band (e.g. critical services in densely populated areas), whereas others favoured a pro-innovation approach which could facilitate the emergence of new, environmentally friendly use cases. However, stakeholders agreed on the importance of indicators to measure the environmental impact of the 26GHz band and compare it to other bands and technologies. Arcep has been working on environmental indicators for some time, as part of the ‘Green Barometer’ it will publish later this year.
Source: https://en.arcep.fr/news/press-releases/view/n/the-environment-140122.html
