PRESS RELEASE:

Rollout of 3,000 5G GreenSites to reduce 35,000 tons of CO2 emissions and save CNY42–75 million on OPEX annually

During MWC Barcelona 2022, China Mobile Tianjin announced that it plans to develop Tianjin into a leading city with the largest number of 5G GreenSites in response to the national carbon neutrality and carbon peak goals and the Group’s ‘dual-carbon’ strategy.

According to Yang Tong, General Manager of Wireless Center at China Mobile Tianjin, China Mobile Tianjin and Huawei are jointly deploying 5G networks and 5G GreenSite at the same time. A total of over 3,000 sites are planned to be deployed. Efforts from the two parties have brought significant benefits:

  1. GHG reduction: On average, 35,000 tons of CO2 emissions are reduced each year.
  2. Simplifying sites: GreenSite adopts C-RAN architecture and supports intelligent coordination, maximizing energy efficiency by managing bits with watts.
  3. Site rental and electricity cost saving: Around CNY6,000–10,000 and CNY8,000–15,000 are saved annually for a site in rental and electricity costs, respectively. With a total of 3,000 sites planned, around CNY42–75 million will be saved in OPEX each year.
  4. Maintenance cost saving: Costs are saved on air conditioner maintenance, battery maintenance, and site visits.
  5. Fast ROI: With CNY15,000 saved on OPEX for each site every year, it now takes only 2 years for a site to recoup the average power facility investment of CNY30,000.

Since 2019, China Mobile Tianjin has deployed over 12,000 5G base stations. However, the construction of high-quality 5G green networks faces three main challenges:

  1. Sites are increasing in complexity with the rollout of 2G, 4G, and 5G networks, and their low energy efficiency is below the green standard.
  2. The large number of 5G users in hotspot areas necessitates fast deployment of GreenSite.
  3. The high rental and electricity fees of some 5G sites push up the OPEX, making cost reduction and efficiency improvement an urgent demand.

China Mobile Tianjin and Huawei have widely deployed a series of 5G green solutions through joint innovation, which cover GreenSite and green networks. The standard “one site, one blade power” simplified site model, as one of their innovations, features the C-RAN architecture, centralized BBU deployment, and removal of air conditioners, equipment rooms, and other auxiliary facilities.

Evolution to GreenSite takes just 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Discontinue use of air conditioners and equipment rooms. The site evolves from indoor to outdoor.

Step 2: Replace existing power cabinets with blade power, which is pole-mounted with main equipment, reducing cable loss.

Step 3: Use a unified management platform for blade power and wireless networks. Maintenance costs can be saved with remote management and fewer site visits.

The huge success that China Mobile Tianjin has achieved with 5G green networks will promote the adoption of 5G green networks and sites across China. Heading toward China Mobile’s ‘dual-carbon’ goal, more 5G GreenSites are expected to be rolled out across other cities in China in the future.