Are green cellular base stations sustainable?

This study presents an overview of sustainable and green cellular base stations (BSs), which account for most of the energy consumed in cellular networks. We review the architecture of the BS and the power consumption model, and then summarize the trends in green cellular network research over the past decade.

What is a green communication initiative?

The green communication initiative primarily aims to improve the energy efficiency, reduce the OPEX, and eliminate the GHG emissions of BSs to guarantee their future evolution [ 2, 3 ]. Cellular network operators attempt to shift toward green practices using two main approaches.

What is the impact of base stations?

The impact of the Base Stations comes from the combination of the power consumption of the equipment itself (up to 1500 Watts for a nowadays macro base station) multiplied by the number of deployed sites in a commercial network (e.g. more than 12000 in UK for a single operator).

Are cellular network operators moving towards green cellular BS?

Figure 10 reveals that many cellular network operators in the world have still not shifted toward green cellular BS. Most of these operators are located in developing countries with limited electricity supply and unreliable electric grids. The financial issues in these countries must be investigated further. 4.5.

How many green cellular Bs are there?

GSMA predicted that the number of green BSs would increase to 389,800 by 2020 [ 8 ], which reflects the growing awareness of cellular network operators about the significant economic and ecological influence of their networks in the coming years. Figure 10. Worldwide deployment of green cellular BSs [ 107 ].