Reversing the Energy Trend in Mobile Networks: Equipment Replacement for Increased Capacity at a Fraction of the Energy

In order to meet the expected boost in mobile data traffic, mobile network operators are planning and upgrading the capacity of their networks. Through a previous study it has been shown that over a period of eight years, different network upgrade strategies have a different impact on the energy consumption and cost of the network. However, irrespective of the upgrade strategy, all lead to an overall increase in the energy consumption of the network. This is based on the assumption that all sites are equipped with the same version of the equipment. In reality, it is likely to find a variety of equipment generations at different base station sites. This paper extends the previous study by considering a realistic equipment replacement strategy. In addition to considering three equipment generations, a number of sites are also upgraded to remote radio head, which reduces the energy consumption even further. Results show, that over the evolution period, it is in fact possible to boost capacity while maintaining or even reducing the energy consumption of the network. For the macro-only upgrade case, a reduction of 9% is experienced between the first and the last year. For the joint macro-pico case, a reduction in energy consumption of 41% is noted. Such reductions are well in line with what mobile network operators are aiming at achieving over the next years.