“Green” Telecom Equipment Will Represent 46% of Network Capital Expenditures by 2013

"Energy Projects"

07/15/2009

Pike Research
Clean Energy Update


Energy consumption is one of the leading drivers of operating expenses for both fixed and mobile network operators. Reliable access to electricity is limited in many developing countries that are currently the high-growth markets for telecommunications. At the same time, many operators have adopted corporate social responsibility initiatives with a goal of reducing their networks’ carbon footprints, and network infrastructure vendors are striving to gain competitive advantage by reducing the power requirements of their equipment. All of these factors will continue to converge over the next several years, creating significant market potential for greener telecom networks.

These market drivers are manifesting themselves in several ways within the global telecom industry. The large equipment vendors are creating highly-efficient network elements that consume far less power than in previous hardware generations. Operators and vendors alike are exploring innovative network architectures and topologies that will support more capacity with less infrastructure. And the entire industry is working to incorporate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, particularly for off-grid mobile base stations in developing countries where the vast majority of subscriber additions will occur over the next five years.