Ericsson drives sustainable cell coverage

By Alex Kayle for Ericsson

Johannesburg, 19 Feb 2009

Ericsson has reached a partnership with network operator Orange Guinea Conakry, to deploy 100 solar-powered base stations in Guinea.

This forms part of its plans to increase cellular coverage in remote parts of rural Africa. The company intends to have more than 1 000 wholly solar-powered base stations on the continent by the end of this year.

Goran Soderholm, VP of marketing and communications for Ericsson SA, says solar base stations are the future for reaching African rural areas that don't have access to mobile communications. “We are deploying these base stations worldwide and it's very possible that we will expand into SA.”

According to Ericsson, the BTS 2111 radio base station is a main-remote solution without any active moving parts, such as cooling fans. It reduces energy consumption by up to 50%, allowing a site to be fully powered by solar energy, supported by a battery bank for 24/7 operation, it explains.

Energy efficient

The Orange Group's African operations include Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Reunion and Senegal.

Orange will use Ericsson's energy-efficient base stations with a hybrid diesel-battery solution and solar panels, to help meet its target of reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2020.

Alassane Diene, CEO of Orange Guinea Conakry, says in a statement that the base stations are easier to install and require less maintenance than the traditional site.

Sustainable connectivity

Jan Embro, president of Ericsson for Sub-Saharan Africa, notes that the greatest advantage in limiting dependency on fossil fuels is the ability to offer sustainable connectivity to low-income users in remote areas across Africa.

Soderholm says: “Guinea has a conducive climate for solar power. Ericsson is trying to reduce the cost of running the base station and if we can use solar energy, it will save costs with long-term benefits from an ecological and economical point of view.”

The company adds that, as radio technology becomes more energy-efficient, solar solutions have become increasingly economically viable.