Green party calls for end to mobile network energy wastage

The party wants operators to create one 'super-network', which it estimates could save 300 gigawatt hours a year

Matthew Sparkes
guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 May 2009 13.16 BST

Unnecessary duplication in mobile phone networks is wasting an "enormous" amount of energy, the Green party has claimed.
In a report released last week, the party said there are at least 50,000 base stations across the UK, many of which belong to rival companies and serve the same areas. The party is calling for government regulation to force operators to create one "super-network", which it estimates could save 300 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year, the equivalent of the annual electricity use of nearly 70,000 homes.
The UK is covered by five virtually independent networks due to the government's early attempts to ensure competition in the industry. James Page, industry policy adviser to the Green party, said: "The government wanted competition, but you can achieve competition without necessarily having a separate network each. The best hope is in government requiring Ofcom to begin considering environmental and energy issues, because at the moment it doesn't."
The time is ideal for the government to step in, said the party, because of the impending digital television switchover. Ofcom will auction off the frequency currently used by analogue television broadcasts in 2010, handing it over for use by mobile operators. When new masts are built to take advantage of the extra spectrum, they could be built in a partnership, suggests the report.
However, the watchdog explained that legislation would be needed before it could take on an environmental role and demand such a move.
"They claim they need a change in the Communications Act, but it already says that Ofcom has to secure optimal use of the spectrum," said Page. "If taking on board the carbon impact isn't making optimal use of the spectrum, I don't know what is."
Ofcom admits that without new powers a shared network across the entire country is improbable, although some companies are already taking voluntarily steps to merge networks.
"The general rule is that they should consider sharing masts where it's feasible," said an Ofcom spokesperson. "There are commercial and cost reasons that they have to take into consideration, so sharing across the whole country is fairly unlikely."
Although several networks already have mast-sharing strategies in place, no programme has yet seen all five networks working together.
T-Mobile and 3 have begun merging base stations in a joint venture that will see the number of T-Mobile's masts reduced from 18,000 to 15,000 by the end of this year – a move that will actually result in better coverage. Orange and Vodafone are engaged in a similar arrangement.
Verified figures have yet to be released for the project, but T-Mobile estimate that between the two companies there will be a reduction of 20% in energy requirements.
"There are similar initiatives in Sweden and Finland. I expect that to be the way of the future," said Emin Gurdenli, chief technology officer for T-Mobile UK. "Does this mean that there will only be one shared infrastructure? Probably not soon. I think we will maybe end up with two shared networks in the UK. Other people will join in due course, and they're welcome to do that."
"We have already demonstrated that this can be done, we've done it between two companies and we've continued to be competitive. In fact I would go as far as to say that those companies that can create such partnerships will be the successful ones."
The Green party argued that government regulation could be the only way to forge partnerships in time for the 2010 spectrum auction. "The government should direct Ofcom to ensure that the sharing of the new 800 MHz frequency band is done in a way that is energy efficient," said Darren Johnson, a London assembly member for the Green party. "Ultimately they could build new shared infrastructure, a 'super-network'. With the climate crisis deepening, Britain can't afford this amount of gratuitous waste."