LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE 360 MENA, DUBAI: Ericsson dismissed concerns 5G will increase energy consumption, with an executive insisting the technology could have a positive environmental impact because it was created for industries.

Zoran Lazarevic, Ericsson engagement manager for strategic network evolution (pictured, left), noted the launch of new mobile networks “historically resulted in a rise in energy consumption”, but explained 5G will create “efficient industries” and would not follow the same path as it is built differently to 4G.

He noted 4G “is not that efficient a technology when it comes to power saving, as radios need to transmit mandatory signals very frequently, every 0.2 milliseconds, regardless if there is user traffic or not”. In contrast, “5G is designed to minimise frequency for mandatory signals”, with these sent every 20 milliseconds. “This time allows much more efficient power saving features for 5G radios.”

Lazarevic said Ericsson was on track to achieve a target of producing 5G radios which are ten-times more efficient than 4G data transfer equipment by 2022.

Europe leading
While the drive around climate action continues to gain global attention, Lazarevic believes Europe is more advanced than other regions in meeting the challenge.

He said operators in the region have been more active in switching to renewable energy sources, a major solution to reducing carbon emissions.

For the Middle East to advance, the Ericsson executive urged more companies to commit to the Science Based Targets initiative, a project designed to enable leading companies to set corporate greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.