Power consumption can contribute up to 35 percent of a radio site's total costs when the power supply equipment and the power bill are jointly calculated. Continually rising energy prices mean that the energy bill is an increasingly large cost factor in telecom network expansion and operation.

Industry milestone for Alcatel-Lucent: more than 300 solar-powered radio sites installed.

Alcatel-Lucent's long-term presence in high-growth markets prompted the early development of mobile access products with best-in-class power efficiency (the lowest power consumption for the maximum coverage and traffic load). The Alcatel-Lucent GSM base transceiver station (BTS) product family goes beyond simply reducing power consumption to promise power efficiency and ensuring reduced energy consumption with increased coverage and traffic flow capabilities.

Power performance also includes innovative outdoor no air-conditioning solutions, eco-sustainable power options, and fewer network cell sites. End result: drastically reduced network operating costs, sustainable networks that contribute to bridging the digital divide, and a positive environmental impact.

Alcatel-Lucent offers a total approach to reducing network costs related to power consumption of the base station, the cell site and the total network. The end result is wireless networks with power performance.

Power efficiency
Lowering network energy consumption costs starts with the base station itself. The key metrics to determining best-in-class power efficiency are low power consumption per coverage and traffic carried.

No air conditioning outdoor solutions
Outdoor base stations have become key state-of-the-art network solution building blocks. Removing the shelter and need for air conditioning dramatically reduces BTS cell site power consumption.

Innovative eco-sustainable power options
Alcatel-Lucent is investigating multiple eco-sustainable power options to develop truly efficient and reliable alternative power solutions for telecom networks.

High coverage cell sites
Reducing the number of network cell sites requires high coverage at each cell site. Alcatel-Lucent power efficiency allows for a network with the least number of sites to reduce the power consumption of the overall network.