MTN greens rural connectivity

Increasing its green initiatives, MTN erected an off-grid base station in the Northern Cape that is powered only by solar PV rays and a wind generator.

This comes a month after the company unveiled a tri-generation methane-driven power plant at its 14th Avenue headquarters, in Johannesburg, which will give it its own source of sustainable energy.

The operator says the 56 metre tall mast set up on the banks of the Orange River, unveiled yesterday, will play a vital role in bridging the digital divide since it allows remote areas like Riemvasmaak, 120km west of Upington, to join the global village through connectivity.

It adds that there was no infrastructure to provide a fixed-line service in the area and no mobile connectivity for residents to enjoy a telecommunications service.

Apart from the environmentally friendly powering, the mast makes use of sealed, maintenance-free gel batteries to store the energy.

“There is no cabling required, no shipping of diesel fuel to the site required, no burning of fuel in a remote power station and a reduction in costs associated with connecting the base station to the larger grid,” says MD Karel Pienaar.

The off-grid base transceiver station (BTS) site, at Vredesvallei, has a 35km radius coverage to serve the communities of Riemvasmaak and Vredesvallei Riemvasmaak, according to MTN.

Despite the high temperatures in the region, only two DC extraction fans are used to cool the equipment, saving on costs incurred using normal air-conditioners, it adds.

MTN also deployed an off-grid wind- and solar-powered base station in the small community of Kleinaarpen, in the Karoo, in June. According to the mobile operator, the facility is also powered by hydrogen fuel cells as a secondary power source.

MTN Group sustainability manager Zakhiya Rehman explains that there's no electricity grid in the area, so the operator decided two years ago to start building a solar and wind power base station in the region. Excess power that's generated is given to the community for free.

“Climate change as an issue has moved from a largely environmental concern to an issue of commercial significance, and the potential impacts of climate change on economies, industry and companies are now far-ranging,” says Pienaar.

He adds that, to this end, MTN is extending its “Greening 14th Avenue” drive from its head office into all areas of the company's operations to ensure all business practices are aligned to a sustainable, cost-cutting model to reduce carbon emissions and save on energy and water.

The company cites a recent report released by Pike Research, a market intelligence business that specialises in green technology, which states that, within five years, about 5% of the world's cellphone tower base stations will be powered by one form or another of green energy. This figure stands at 0.11% today.

Deputy minister of communications Dina Pule previously highlighted the role of the ICT industry in furthering SA's sustainable development goals.

“Nothing less than a shift from a high- to a low-carbon global economy is required, and in many cases, ICTs appear to offer the best way to accelerate this. We must make alternative energy our business.”

Frost & Sullivan research analyst Ross Bruton says a lot of businesses are looking at new forms of energy to power operations, in the face of possible blackouts and escalating tariff increases.

“It's topical for most industries at the moment, especially as there are likely to be significant problems regarding the availability of electricity until end-2012, when the first two units of the Medupi power plant come online.”

In line with its objective to bring 3G wireless broadband to rural areas in a sustainable way, MTN has built a 900Mhz network that, outside of extending its voice network, will see the delivery of much-needed data services to outlying areas, explains the operator.

“This investment forms part of the R18 billion MTN has spent on its network infrastructure over the past two years, to improve the quality of both voice and data services, and to extend its 3G coverage footprint.”

In addition to the rollout of the new network, the company aims to re-farm a portion of its new 900MHz network spectrum, predominantly used for 2G or voice, for 3G usage to extend its wireless broadband coverage into rural SA.

“It has been a long-term vision for us at MTN to develop a data network that extends into the rural communities of SA,” says Pienaar.

“We believe much of our future data market will come from these previously under-serviced areas that are desperate for the full end-to-end connectivity services that MTN can provide.”

He adds that the benefits of the new technology will enable MTN to fulfil this vision. The higher frequency 2.1GHz technology that the company is currently using doesn't give it the reception footprint it needs to reach into the far recesses of rural areas.

“However, the 900MHz network does exactly this and negates the need for the costly building of new towers in these regions. This strategy reinforces our vision to be a sustainable organisation, as fewer towers means a greener technology footprint.”

The network infrastructure project, which has been operational since May this year, is currently being rolled out in a pilot phase at a number of sites in the Limpopo Province, covering Tzaneen and its surrounding areas, according to MTN.

The Riemvasmaak BTS site, in the Northern Cape, is the 21st site to be included in the pilot.

“Based on the success of the pilot project, the company is exploring a wider strategy to roll-out the same infrastructure to a number of other targeted areas that currently have no 3G connection, in the near future.”

As per the project, the operator says it has also performed a universal mobile telecommunications system infrastructure upgrade to the existing MTN network that will yield significant benefits to customers looking to take advantage of wireless broadband in rural areas.