In February of this year, Alcatel-Lucent (News - Alert) celebrated the deployment of its 200th solar-powered GSM base station (BTS).

The site belongs to a leading mobile service provider in Senegal in Bettenty, and is completely powered by the sun. The ability to power the base station, microwave, and all other electrical components of the site using solar energy is essential to the service provider’s ability to provide affordable mobile telecom services to previously unconnected remote communities in the island of Bettenty and surrounding Saloum islands. To mark the occasion, Alcatel-Lucent met with the Director General to hear their perspective on the energy issues associated with operating mobile telecommunication networks.

A: We plan to deploy 40 solar-powered BTS sites in 2008. Fifteen sites are already operational. The remaining 25 will be in service by the end of the year.

A: Our ability to fulfill our duty as an operator depends on enabling as many of our compatriots as possible to benefit from affordable mobile telecommunication services over virtually the whole country. When we decide to set up a new radio site, we must ensure that it meets quality of service requirements and is financially profitable. We use autonomous energy solutions, such as solar panels, to install new radio sites in regions that are not connected to public electricity grids. Such solutions provide an interesting alternative to traditional diesel generator sets, for which the refueling and maintenance costs are often too high to keep in continuous operation, and which can be inconsistent, thereby altering the network’s quality of service. That said, solutions that use solar panels must be sufficiently efficient to keep the overall cost of the site down to a reasonable level.

A: Innovative power supply solutions such as those based on solar panels are only economically viable for powering equipment that consumes little electricity. On a site such as Bettenty, the low electricity consumption of Alcatel-Lucent's BTS solution allows us to install a limited surface area of solar panels — keeping costs in line with the site's profitability objectives. This Alcatel-Lucent solution uses an outdoor base station with a cooling efficiency that makes shelters and their electricity-guzzling air conditioning systems unnecessary. Moreover, this base station relies on high-energy efficient radio emitters. Finally, we need good integration between the telecommunication equipment and the energy providers' equipment to enable the entire system to operate at maximum efficiency.

A: Extremely important. From the very first years of our deployment, we have needed to overcome weaknesses in the public electricity grids. Today, we rely on the considerable expertise we acquired during this process and our partnerships with suppliers and integrators such as Alcatel-Lucent to craft innovative end-to-end radio site solutions. As a result, we have been able to reduce our exposure to the growing tensions of the energy market and contribute to saving the environment by minimizing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with our activity as an operator.

The commissioning of the 200th solar-powered cell site is an industry landmark for the use of eco (News - Alert)-sustainable power solutions. It underscores Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment to promote greater environmental responsibility and encourage the development and implementation of technologies that benefit the environment. To further strengthen its commitment to increasing energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprints of its activities, the company recently signed the United Nations Global Compact “Caring for Climate” initiative. In addition to signaling Alcatel-Lucent’s strong commitment to innovative, eco-sustainable power solutions, this 200th solar-powered radio site also illustrates how the company’s Broadband for All program is working to bridge the digital divide and foster social and economic development in high-growth economies.
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Edited by Greg Galitzine