Sustainability in telecom: It’s not a trend. It’s a commitment…

Communication service providers (CSPs) want to meet environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) goals in 5G; and Nokia understands this is not lip service. Sustainability is intrinsic to our strategy and purpose; and we believe that when we act together, CSPs and their partners can commit to tackling the sustainability challenge our society faces. As we’ve said before: There can be no green without digital.

An AI-driven commitment

Reducing CO2 emission and network energy consumption is critical to CSPs’ sustainability efforts; and they’re implementing energy savings measures today. They’re introducing more power-efficient equipment into the network and retiring legacy infrastructure; and while these are efficient actions to take, the largest savings opportunity may come from intelligent automation software. Operators are integrating AI/ML intelligence into the network, across all domains, to monitor and take action to conserve network energy. These combined steps will help CSPs commit to quantifiable sustainability targets for the future.

Still…5G presents a sustainability paradox

However, we need to keep in mind that the telecom industry accounts for approximately 1.5 percent of global electricity use. To help address this, the telecom industry has worked together to create a climate action roadmap to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

While not the most energy-intensive vertical, CSPs do face a difficult paradox. 5G equipment itself is designed to be more efficient; but as 5G rollouts accelerate and Internet traffic surges, the overall energy consumption demand on mobile networks will rise, as will the associated costs.

On top of this reality, CSPs are still pressured to cut costs while they invest in new business models. Changing the network paradigm is an onerous task – and CSPs already have a long list of operational KPIs to meet. Throw in “meet sustainability targets” and CSPs must prioritize investments and figure out how to do it all.

That’s where Nokia can step in.

Green 5G Catalyst: AI-driven software helps CSPs commit to – and achieve – real results

Nokia helps CSPs run the most efficient networks so they can save costs and launch new, innovative services; and our AI-driven solutions will help CSPs meet socially responsible ESG targets in tandem.

In support of this commitment, Nokia contributed to the award-winning Green 5G catalyst at Digital Transformation World this year. China Mobile was the lead CSP, and the project was designed to use TM Forum’s Autonomous Networks technology and AI/ML intelligence to define a unified energy efficiency standard and delivery methodology.

A primary goal of the project was to demonstrate how CSPs can reduce end-to-end energy consumption in the 5G network even as rising energy costs and data traffic drive energy consumption higher. This is happening despite CSPs deploying more energy efficient 5G equipment to offset this reality.
 
China Mobile, with the help of Nokia and other contributors, achieved impressive – and quantifiable – results. Using intent-based APIs and AI-based software, the Green 5G pilot showed that China Mobile can save (in total) 475 million kWh per year across its end-to-end network – and help China Mobile, power companies and manufacturers reduce annual carbon emissions by 373,000 tons. (There’s more detail here.)

Nokia knows AI-driven Energy Efficiency

To take our sustainability promise a level deeper, we offer Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency. It’s an award-winning, AI solution designed to help operators reduce CO2 emissions and network energy costs,
with no negative impact on performance or end customer experience.

China Mobile is an important Nokia customer outside of the Green 5G catalyst project. The CSP chose Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency to help reduce energy consumption and control costs without compromising the customer experience. The results were a success. China Mobile was able to maintain its massive rollout of 5G while controlling costs and reducing energy in the short term, while setting up the network to meet its long-term sustainability goals.

Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency is an integral part of Nokia’s AVA Intelligence Everywhere portfolio. This intelligent software suite is designed to help customers secure and automate network operations to monetize new services; and with Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency, CSPs can do it all while considering the environmental impact running mobile networks has on the world.

Start reducing energy consumption now with Nokia AVA Energy Efficiency.