Nokia Siemens Networks first to publish wireless access network energy efficiency using new industry standards

The energy efficiency of Nokia Siemens Networks’ award-winning* Flexi EDGE Base Station is the first to be provided in accordance with new technical specifications published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). ETSI published a standard method to analyze the energy efficiency of wireless access network equipment to make it easier to compare network performance from different vendors with the goal of reducing operator energy use.

The measured power consumption of the Flexi EDGE Base Station in a typical configuration, with three sectors and four carriers per sector, averages 978 watts in a basic mode of operation. With software energy saving features, high performance can be maintained but power consumption can be reduced to 833 watts. In some instances this can be further reduced to 562 watts with a reduced configuration of two, instead of four, carriers per sector.

“Nokia Siemens Networks is the first company to report wireless access network energy efficiency according to the ETSI specification, setting a target for the whole industry,” said Prashant Agnihotri, head of GSM/EDGE Product Management, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Without the standard it is impossible to compare product performance and energy efficiency improvements from different companies. This will help us take our discussions with customers to a more concrete level comparing how much power our products consume.”

Energy efficiency is critical as around 90 percent of the energy consumption of a cellular network comes from base stations.

Energy Efficiency of Wireless Access Network Equipment was published by ETSI as a method to evaluate the energy efficiency of wireless access networks. A key aim of this technical specification was to define reference base station configurations and load levels so that everyone in the industry can measure base station power consumption in a similar way. The specification takes into account different measurement conditions such as temperature, pressure and humidity. It can be found online here.