EE’s ‘cell sleep’ technology is a game-changer for the telecommunications industry. It allows certain 4G LTE capacity carriers to be put to sleep when there is no need, using machine learning algorithms to predict periods of low traffic for each site. This ensures that carriers are only activated during busy periods and can quickly react to unexpected surges that might occur during scheduled sleep modes. The result? Carriers wake up within seconds to serve demand without any interruption to customers.
BT Group has implemented this technology across its sites in the UK, and expects it will result in energy savings of up to 2KWh per site per day, amounting to 4.5m KWh per year across EE’s estate. As the largest provider of fixed-line broadband and mobile services in the UK, BT Group’s networks account for approximately 89% of its total energy consumption. Increasing network energy efficiency is crucial to its goal of becoming a net zero carbon emissions business by the end of March 2031.
This technology has enormous potential for energy savings across the networks by dynamically matching power consumption against network usage. By activating an even lower power state, known as ‘deep sleep’, during overnight periods of extremely low demand, BT anticipates further energy savings. The optimization and roll-out of cell sleep technology marks a significant milestone in achieving this goal and addressing the growing data consumption on the networks.
BT Group is also upgrading to more energy-efficient RAN equipment, including the deployment of ultra-lightweight Massive MIMO technology that utilizes up to 40% less energy than the previous generation of radio equipment. As data usage continues to grow exponentially, it’s clear that telecommunications companies must prioritize energy efficiency in order to remain sustainable and responsible businesses.
