State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

Telecom companies in Pakistan are one of the major power consumers and in addition to the increasing cost of electricity, they also face the challenge of lack of access to the electricity grid in rural areas to supply power to base stations. A few pilot deployments of  solar powered base stations were luanched earlier.Now Telenor Pakistan and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) have signed an agreement that will provide NSN’s off-grid site solutions that use solar energy to power Telenor base station sites in rural and remote areas. This is expected to result in substantial cost savings for Telenor Pakistan along with the social benefits that come with using renewable and clean energy.

Nokia Siemens Networks will design the sites, taking into account local solar mapping, site landscape and other factors to maximize the use of an abundant, clean, and natural energy source. Nokia Siemens Networks’ Green Energy Control will help deliver a sustainable solution while optimizing operating costs.

The solar-powered sites will be implemented using Universal Services Fund (USF) that was awarded to Telenor Pakistan in 2009. USF-based contracts aim to provide access to mobile services for underserved and unserved areas of Pakistan. Telenor Pakistan, till now, has been awarded three USF contracts for Mirpurkhas, Malakand and Bahawalpur region.

“It’s important that we connect the world in such a way that not only maximizes benefits for consumers and businesses, but also ensures the welfare of our planet,” said Saad Waraich, the Pakistan country director for Nokia Siemens Networks. “Providing communications to rural areas will become increasingly important and we believe renewable energy will be the first choice for such installations. In fact, the majority of base station sites installed by us by 2011 will use this form of energy. We are especially proud to partner with Telenor – a definite trend setter for the use of environmental technologies in network expansion.”

The GSMA has estimated that more than 75,000 new off-grid sites will be built each year through 2012 in developing countries. About 80% of the energy in a typical mobile telecommunication network is consumed by base stations. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power offer a reliable alternative to sites with limited or non-existent electrical grid access. Nokia Siemens Networks has already deployed more than 360 sites that exploit renewable energy and has over 25 years of experience in implementing solar-powered sites.

Source: Nokia Siemens Press Release

Though solar-powered phones (both real and concept models) have been around for a while, it is the first time that they are entering the mainstream consumer gadgets in a big way. Two major handset makers – LG and Samsung – started selling solar-powered cell phones this week. Price tag is around $300. Samsung’s model is a touch screen phone called Blue Earth which is made of recycled material and has a solar panel at the back. LG’s phone is called GD510 Pop with solar panel as an optional add-on.

Consumer demand for solar-based phones is hard to gauge, but makers are planning to market them as good for the environment as well as a way to hedge against running out of battery power.

Both the Samsung and LG phones have features that promote walking, such as software that measures distance traveled, and allow customers to calculate how much they can reduce carbon dioxide emissions with physical activities that replace driving.

“It is premature to say whether they will be successful, but overall it’s the right direction because people are increasingly interested in saving energy,” says Park Sung-min, a telecom industry analyst at Kyobo Securities in Seoul.

Samsung is aiming the Blue Earth model at premium customers, with pricing around $300. The phone, which can also be charged with a traditional plug-in cord, is initially available in Sweden; Samsung said it will quickly roll it out elsewhere in Europe and Asia.

G said the Pop phone will also initially be sold in Europe and be priced around $300 with the optional solar panel about $50. The companies said decisions are pending about U.S. sales.

Samsung said the Blue Earth phone can accept enough charge under an hour of normal sunlight to allow for 10 minutes of talk. LG said the Pop model permits about 13 minutes of talk after being charged for an hour under normal sunlight. The companies said the phones will also charge under artificial light, but more slowly.

Nokia Corp., the world’s largest cellphone maker by units and revenue, introduced a solar-based cellphone in 1997 but it didn’t continue in the company’s regular lineup. The company earlier this year demonstrated a concept phone that runs entirely on solar power.

Samsung, the second-largest maker, in June introduced its first solar-based phone, a bar-shaped model with a normal keypad and solar cells on the back. That phone, called Solar Guru in some markets and Crest Solar in others, was aimed chiefly at developing countries and sells for as little as $60. But Samsung also offers it in some wealthy European countries like France.

Via Tawanai.com

Last month we shared with you something about the solar phones concept. Now we have them in market.

Samsung Electronics has introduced its first ever, innovative, solar powered cellular phone; “Solar Crest” in Pakistan, emphasizing Samsung’s vision and its pioneering efforts for environmental sustainability. As a global leader in cutting-edge technology, Samsung is leading the way into a greener future by utilizing sources of renewable energy. This innovation is a quantum leap towards technologies that will minimize reliance on ecologically harmful sources of energy. This handset is designed with integrated solar panels, thus it operates and recharges without any ecological deterioration.

Solar Crest has been designed to create unmatched convenience for the customers; its solar technology has a special utility for cell-phone users residing in countries where electricity shortages are experienced quite frequently. Therefore, the Pakistani customers will get the maximum benefit from Solar Crest. Elsewhere, the vast Indian population can also seek relief from the electricity crisis through Samsung’s Solar handsets.

Sung Woo Han, Country Manager Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, expressed his views and stated, “Samsung’s Solar Crest phone reflects our commitment to global eco-friendly products, being the first ever solar powered device, which will help consumers charge their phones without electricity. This revolutionary phone will benefit consumers everywhere, especially Pakistan, by enabling significant conservation of energy.”

[via Pakistan Observer]

Both Samsung and LG showed concept phones recently. Pictures via Engadget. Charge 10 minutes and get 3 minutes of talk time. It will be a while before these phones become ready for mass consumption but this is the kind of breakthrough which the world needs.

Last year we saw Telenor and Warid vie in the media as the first one to install solar base stations. That was a start and the trend for green, renewable and more efficient solutions will continue. There is a lot more work to be done in the energy conservation and alternative reneable sources of energy for the technology and telecom industry. The infrastructure elements such as base stations consume significant energy and the data centers needed to run the IT operations are also major energy spenders. The infrastructure sharing idea promoted in Pakistan was also a good point in theory but its actual success has not been reported yet.

Typically, around half of the operating expenditure of a network company is spent on electricity, according to Ericsson. The proportion tends to be higher for operators in the developing world because their base-stations may be in remote areas, and therefore require diesel-fuelled generators. So the recent spike in energy prices has prompted operators to look for ways to cut costs.

The Economist ran a story about green telecom networks and ways to conserve energy in the telecom world. Good tips for saving energy from Economist.com include:

There are some relatively simple ways to reduce the energy consumption of a base-station. The first is to turn down the air-conditioning. Many mobile operators now run base-stations at a standard temperature of 35ºC, rather than the previous norm of 25-30ºC. Studies show that the higher temperature does not reduce the equipment’s reliability or life expectancy. “The biggest restriction is actually our technicians, who do not like going into the hut to work at 35 degrees,” says Andy MacLeod, Vodafone’s global networks director.

Operating at this temperature means ambient air can be used for cooling, even in hot countries. An air-filter is installed on one side of the cabin, and a fan is installed on the other, resulting in a steady flow of air. Vodafone plans to replace air-conditioning with this simpler approach, called “freecooling”, in the majority of its base-stations over the next three years, as part of a plan to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% between 2006 and 2020.

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Any solutions which satisfy the commercial viability and provide green benefits are in vogue and in demand these days. Interest in green technologies for hig tech industry remains high whether it is in the data center, base stations or other infrastructure. Spotted this at Earth2Tech.

What could be more greentech: broadband without wires, powered by the sun. Wi-Fi network startup Meraki said today it’s started selling its solar-powered Wi-Fi gear. Interested parties can throw down either $1,300 or $1,500 for a kit that contains a 20- or 40-watt solar panel, the pole mount, the Wi-Fi solar radio and the connector; for locations that need more solar power than that, $850 buys a package of just the radio and connector without the panels. For now, the company is just selling its devices online through its web site and resellers, but not at retail outlets.

Meraki CEO Sanjit Biswas has talked about creating a sustainable business selling Wi-Fi mesh network hardware, software and services to deliver a grassroots movement of small wireless Internet Service Providers that could offer free and low-cost Wi-Fi. The company ended up raising money from Google, Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures and Northgate Capital, and it built a free Wi-Fi network throughout areas of San Francisco that put the city’s own (now defunct) free Wi-Fi plans to shame. It’s been busy.

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