PRESS RELEASE: On October 26, 2021, China Mobile inaugurated its Green 5G Joint Innovation Lab with more than a dozen of partners from various industries. This lab will focus on development of new 5G energy-saving technologies and products, as well as end-to-end integration of solutions. It will explore ways to evaluate energy efficiency and expand 5G applications across vertical industries. The ultimate goal is to build a joint innovation platform to push for 5G energy saving and carbon emission reduction.

To date, China’s three major operators have announced their action plans for taking carbon emissions to a peak and achieving carbon neutrality. According to Huang Yuhong, who is the deputy general manager of China Mobile Research Institute, this ‘dual-carbon’ strategy has become a top priority for growth in its corporate agenda. China Mobile has marked progress bringing down the energy usage of 5G networks, with the electricity consumed by base stations reduced by nearly 25% at the end of 2020 compared to 2019.

Although the low-carbon path is leading operator business towards growth, there are still quite a number of issues standing in the ICT industry. In general, the industry is looking to efficiently assess 5G energy efficiency, maximize the potential of 5G energy conservation, and help verticals leverage 5G networks to achieve green growth.

“By creating the Green 5G Joint Innovation Lab, we expect to work with experts in various fields to exploit the potential for energy saving in 5G networks, improve energy efficiency assessment, and help partners streamline and integrate with 5G to improve efficiency,” commented Huang.

Deng Wei, the deputy director of China Mobile Research Institute’s Wireless and Device Technology Research Division, said that sustained 5G development faces many problems, including high energy consumption in main equipment, equipment room construction, heat dissipation, energy storage, new energy usage, and many other areas. He believes that the industry must take swift joint action to make core breakthroughs, explore end-to-end solution integration, build test environments, enhance energy efficiency assessment, and promote 5G applications in vertical industries.

“5G and other next-generation information technologies can help energy generation, steel, chemical, smelting, and other top energy-demanding enterprises consume less energy and bring down carbon emissions. Cross-industry innovations will be necessary to apply these technologies in core production and operations to build green low-carbon solutions and use cases,” remarked Deng.