Bi-annualReportNovember2009 -...

Bi-annual Report November 2009

Supported by

Green Power for MobileBi-annual Report 2009

Reports

Welcome 1

Introducing Green Power for Mobile 2

The Industry Challenge 2

‘Extending Mobile Beyond the Grid’ 4

Feasibility Study Service for Mobile Operators 6

International Finance Corporation Supports Green Power for Mobile 8

Current Market Trends 10

Evaluating Green Power Technologies 10

MTN South Africa is Switching to Green 12

BP Solar – The Right Time for the Right Energy Mix 14

GSMA Case Study – Digicel Vanuatu Deploys a Green Network 15

A Developed World Viewpoint – Interview with John Romano, Telstra 18

Future Trends 20

Bharti Airtel Addresses Energy Efficiency to Tackle a US$500 Million Problem 20

Off-grid Charging Solutions for Mobile Phones: A US$2.3 Billion Market Opportunity 22

A Solar Strategy for the Future – Interview with Tom Bryant, Digicel 24

Table of Contents


The GSMA Green Power for Mobile (GPM)programme was launched in September 2008 to‘extend mobile beyond the grid’. Just over a year laterwe have witnessed a huge increase in activity in thissector as mobile operators seek solutions to providingmobile access to the 1.6 billion people who livewithout grid electricity.

An indication of this growth was the strength anddiversity of attendance at the fifth GPM WorkingGroup meeting in India in September. The meetingwas attended by a spectrum of global operators, towersharing companies, equipment vendors andrepresentatives from the International FinanceCorporation (IFC-World Bank Group), the CellularOperators Association of India (COAI) and theUniversal Service Obligation Fund.

The programme has entered an exciting new phase ofdevelopment through a partnership with the IFC. TheIFC are providing both financial support for theprogramme’s activities and seeking to assist operatorswith financing for green base station rollouts. Anoverview of this partnership is contained within.

The Clinton Global Initiative has recently recognisedGPM for its exemplary approach to acceleratingsolutions that address climate change, and theprogramme has been profiled in its 2004-2008commemorative publication, “Action Speaks Louderthan Words’.

For the first issue of the GPM Bi-annual report wehave focused the content into two sections – currentand future market trends.

Current Market TrendsWith a viewpoint on present day trendswe first addressthe challenge of selection of specific renewable energytechnologies, by providing the GSMApoint of view onthe applicability of themajor technologies, such as solarand wind, to power network infrastructure. MTNSouthAfrica provides an innovative case study of a trialsite where they have deployed solar, wind and fuel celltechnologies at a single site. BP Solar provide theirperspective onwhy the industry is now ready for largescale, commercial application of solar technologies forpowering off-grid networks.

There are two distinct stages to any green networkrollout, a feasibility study phase and then animplementation phase. GPM has partnered withoperators across Africa, the Pacific and South Asia todeploy 75 green power base stations over the pasteighteen months. Two key projects with MTN Ugandaand Digicel Vanuatu which outline both the feasibilitystudy phase and implementation phase are profiled.Weare pleased to be able to offer a Feasibility Study serviceto operators.

Future Market TrendsWith an eye on emerging trends and future evolutionswe profile the pioneering work of Bharti-Airtel toreduce the energy consumption of their network – a keypriority when network energy expenditure is US$500million per year for Bharti-Airtel.

We also introduce a new report from the GPMprogramme entitled Charging Choices, which hasrevealed a US$2.3 billion opportunity for mobileoperators through the provision of off-grid chargingsolutions in emerging markets.

The GPM team looks forward to continuedcollaboration with our Working Group members andthe industry in general to ensure that our work isrelevant to stakeholder requirements, actionable andaids advancing this emerging sector within thetelecommunications industry. We will be holding aseminar alongside the main agenda at Mobile WorldCongress in Barcelona in February 2010 and we hopeto see many of you in attendance. The next WorkingGroup meeting will be in Africa in March 2010.

I trust you will find the first edition of our Bi-annualreport educational and informative and we lookforward to seeingmany of you over the next sixmonthsto work on the issues raised in this report as well asestablish the work plan for us all over the next period.

David TavernerGreen Power for Mobile Senior ProgrammeManager

Welcome


Access to information is essential to economic growth,yet a study by Deloitte1 commissioned by the GSMAsuggests that access rates in developing countriesoften lag more than twenty years behind those in thedeveloped world. Fortunately, important advances intechnology are closing this gap. Mobile telephonyappears to be particularly promising – economistshave demonstrated that a 10% increase in mobilepenetration is associated with a 1.2% increase in adeveloping country’s GDP.

Mobile technology requires less infrastructure andconsequently less capital investment than traditionalcommunications networks. This contributes topositioning the developing world as a significantmarket with relatively untapped potential. Thanks tothe high demand for access to information and ever-decreasing supply costs, mobile operators are takinga lead role in addressing the digital divide betweendeveloping and developed nations.

As the total number of mobile phone connectionsworldwide approaches 4.5 billion2, mobile operatorsare increasingly looking towards the rural regions ofthe developing world for future subscriber growth.The acceleration of mobile technology in thedeveloping world is not without obstacles – cellularnetworks rely on radio towers or base stations thatconvert electricity into radio waves and need aconstant supply of energy to operate. In developedareas, base stations are easily connected to a mainpower grid for a reliable energy supply. In developingareas however, 1.6 billion people lack access to gridelectricity and an additional one billion people haveunreliable electricity. Though providers have reliedlargely on diesel powered generators to power off-grid and unreliable grid base stations, it is becomingincreasingly apparent that this is not the optimalsolution for off-grid power.

Introducing Green Power for Mobile

The Industry ChallengeDavid Taverner, GSM Association

The Earth at Night Highlighting Large Regions that are Off-Grid

Source: NASA

1 Global Mobile Tax Review 2006-2007 (http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/tax_review_06_07.pdf)2 Wireless Intelligence

01 GSM Association 2009 GSM Association 2009 02


The GSMA estimates that in 2007 there were over290,000 off-grid diesel base stations in developingregions, and forecasts that by 2012 therewill 520,000 off-grid diesel base stations and 118,000 green renewableenergy base stations.

The impact of running off-grid diesel powered sites onan operator’s operating expenditure (OPEX) can besignificant. Diesel generators are expensive to run bothin terms of fuel and maintenance cost. The price ofdiesel has demonstrated extreme volatility over the lasttwo years causing wild fluctuations in OPEX which inturn creates difficulty in business planning/forecasting.It is not just the cost of the fuel itself that can makediesel an unattractive option – the cost of transportingit to remote locations can be high, and there is also therisk of theft. The GSMA estimates that by 2012operators across the developing world will incur aUS$14.6bn diesel bill from powering off-grid basestations. Bharti-Airtel estimates that 40% of networkOPEX is spent on energywhich is equivalent to US$500million.

Operation and maintenance of remote off-grid sites isalso a major challenge for operators. Due to the lack of

infrastructure in remote regions, delivery of diesel or agenerator maintenance engineer can take up to eighthours by dirt track, or in some instances will need to betransported by boat or helicopter.As operators continueto expand their networks into remote regions, thesechallenges can escalate to a point where furtherexpansion is unfeasible. This highlights a foreseeablesituationwhereby some regions are left withoutmobileor classic telecommunications access, creating apermanent digital divide between the developed anddeveloping world.

The final major issue surrounding the use of diesel topower base stations is the significant emissions thatresult from their 24 hour a day operation – a typicalrural base station will generate approximately60 tonnes of carbon per year.

In addition to the challenges associated with operatingbase stations in off-grid regions, there is the difficultyof charging mobile phones. Nearly 500 million peoplecurrently have access to amobile phone but do not havetheir own means of charging it – their alternative is toseek expensive solutions such as lead-acid batterieswhich can have a harmful impact on the environment.

Growth in Base Stations and Diesel OPEX in Developing Regions 2007-2012

Source: GSMA

0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000

2007

2012

2007

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2007

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2007

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Tota

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Latin

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ern

Euro

pean

dCe

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East

Asia

and

Paci

fic

On-grid base stations

Off-grid base stations

US$8.1bn Diesel OPEX

US$14.6bn Diesel OPEX

ProfitReduce OPEX

Expand Subscriber Base

PeopleConnect theUnconnected

PlanetReduce

Emissions


In September 2008, the GSMA Development Fundlaunched its Green Power for Mobile (GPM)programme with two primary objectives:

1. To systematically reduce diesel consumption bymobile operators through the promotion ofrenewable energy technologies and energyefficient base stations

2. To remove the barriers to handset charging in off-grid regions

Through its work the GPM programme aims toadvance the use of renewable energy sources by themobile industry to power 118,000 new and existingoff-grid base stations in developing countries by 2012.Achieving this target will save up to 2.5bn litres ofdiesel consumption, cut annual carbon emissions byup to 6.8 million metric tons – which equates toTanzania’s annual emissions – and connect 118 millionpeople in developing countries to mobile networksusing green power.

The GSMA sees this programme as anexemplification of the triple bottom line conceptwhich brings strong benefits to the people, planetand profit.

The GPM programme has recently been recognisedby the Clinton Global Initiative for its exemplaryapproach to accelerating solutions that addressclimate change, and has been profiled in its 2004-2008commemorative publication, “Action Speaks Louderthan Words”, from which sections of this chapterhave been extracted.

GPM has established an implementation strategy ofthree complementary work streams – MarketClarification, Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)Financing and Ongoing Innovation. An overview ofeach of the streams can be found on the next page.

‘Extending Mobile Beyond the Grid’Lauren Dawes, GSM Association

Triple Bottom Line Benefit



development banks. Given the nascent nature of themarket, the capital cost of implementing greentechnology to power base stations can appear to be toorisky an investment for many mobile operators. Theaim of CAPEX Financing is to providemobile operatorswith financial instruments to enable theimplementation of viable businessmodels that leveragerenewable power for long-term efficiency gains.

Ongoing InnovationThe GPM programme’s Ongoing Innovation workstream utilises several methods to promote continuedinnovation in the field of renewable power. Specifically,GPM has the ability to support trials and test thepotential of renewables in a given region. Theprogramme is on target to complete projects for fifteenoperators across 1,000 solar, wind and biofuel basestations by Q4 2010. GPM is also researching thesolutions available to operators to solve the challengeof off-grid charging of handsets, the results ofwhich canbe found in ‘Green Power for Mobile – ChargingChoices’3.

Market ClarificationThe objective of theMarket Clarificationwork stream isto give mobile operators a full understanding of theopportunities for renewable energy in their respectivemarkets and demonstrate how green technology posesless risk thanmay be perceived. Specifically GPMoffersthree tools within Market Clarification:

1. Aweb portal to disseminate information on thechallenges and successes of renewable powerimplementation -www.gsmworld.com/greenpower

2. AWorking Group – currently comprising 35mobile operators – to promote and facilitate thesharing of lessons learned and concerns arounddeploying renewable energy solutions

3. Arapid assessment toolkit used to guide providersthrough the decision making process

CAPEX FinancingThrough the CAPEX Financingwork stream, GPMactson behalf of its members to secure funding through

Green Power for MobileWorking Group

3 The GSMA publication ‘Green Power for Mobile – Charging Choices’ can be found at www.gsmworld.com/documents/charging_choices


The key challenge faced by operators when movingfrom a pilot site phase to network or group levelimplementation is reducing the list of candidate sites inits global or country footprint to the optimum targetsbased on technical and financial viability. GPM’smethodologywhich is summarised in the graph belowsolves this issue.

The primary objective of the GPM Feasibility Studyservice is to ensure that mobile operators maximisereturn on investment on CAPEX investments.Operators who take advantage of the service willbenefit from the GSMA’s unique value proposition:

� Advice from an unbiased perspective� Significant experience from deploying over 75

alternative energy sites across Africa, the Pacific,and South Asia

� Establishment of a Centre of Excellence with thehelp of the GPM training curriculum

Over the past eighteen months, the Green Power forMobile (GPM) programme has partnered withoperators across Africa, the Pacific and South Asia todeploy 75 green power base stations in order to acquireknowledge, demonstrate feasibility and build operatorconfidence in the use of alternative energy to powerbase stations.

The experience and learnings from these deploymentsacross a wide number of sites and geographies hasgiven the GPMprogrammeworld class understandingof the methodology involved in designing andimplementing alternative energy base stations.

Mobile operators can benefit from this knowledge andmethodology through the GSMA’s GPM FeasibilityStudy service.

The GPM Feasibility Study service offers a technicaland financial feasibility study of an operator’s basestation network to identify priority candidate sites,optimum alterative energy technology, forecast CAPEXandROI, and assist with implementation planning. TheGSMAuses best practice, public domain software toolsto complete the analysis. Training on the software isprovided and a centre of excellence can be establishedwithin the operator through a training curriculumoffered by the GPM programme.

Feasibility Study Service for Mobile OperatorsDavid Taverner, GSM Association

Operator Target Area

10,000 Base Stations

Country Economic Modelling/Prioritisation

1000 Base Stations

Regional Prioritisation

100 Base Stations

Site Prioritisation

XX Base Stations

Site Dimensioning

Site Civil and Electrical Design

Installation and Commissioning

Support and Maintenance

Green Power for Mobile Methodology



MTN Uganda – Example Green Power for MobileFeasibility StudyThe GPM programme was commissioned by MTNUganda during April to June 2009 to analyse MTN’sexisting network and outline an implementation planfor a green power network.

After assessing the operators' network and analysingthe sites which could best represent MTN Uganda’soperating environment in terms of climate, siteconfiguration, equipment and power requirements,eleven target siteswere identified (ten existing sites andone planned site). The selected sites can be grouped intofour main categories according to two dimensions –indoor /outdoor and diesel generator/hybrid batterysystem powered sites.

Site visits were conducted to ten of the targeted sites.Site visits are a key element of site prioritisation –availability of space on site for renewable equipment,terrain obstacles, and local micro-climate data are allkey pieces of information that can be efficientlygathered through conducting on site assessments. Foreach of the targeted sites accurate financial andrenewable forecasts were completed adoptingHOMER(public domain software from US National RenewableEnergy Laboratory) to dimension the renewable energyequipment and integrate the results into the GPMmethodology.

A sensitivity analysis of diesel price variation wasconducted considering values ranging from US$0.7 toUS$1.2 with increments of US$0.1. Inmany developingcountries currency exchange fluctuations, theft andtransportation costs can have a strong impact on thefinal delivered price of diesel.

Financial Viability Results:� Seven out of eleven site were identified as having

a green power solution payback within three and ahalf years

� The spread of ROI was between 25.1% and 64.8%across ten sites

� The CAPEX range for the green power solutionswas US$34,177 to US$64,315 per site, with anaverage US$48,883

� The GSMAadvised MTN Uganda to implementgreen power solutions in six out of the eleven sitesstudied

� This rollout has the potential to save 68,885 litresof diesel per year and reduce carbon emissions by219.6 tons per year

Feasibility Study Key Findings:� The implementation of green power technology in

base station sites represented a technically feasibleand financially attractive solution

� Energy analysis should be conducted at networkplanning stage (i.e. during land acquisition).In existing sites there is often not enough spacefor installing the ideal photovoltaic system

� Low power, diesel generator only sitesdemonstrate the best financial indicators

� Accurate data on installed network infrastructureis critical for successful energy planning

� Mobile operators venturing into green powersolutions for their networks must be supported byresources experienced in the specific applicationof green power and telecoms. The GSMAofferstechnical assistance through its Feasibility Studyservice

The Complex Financial Lives of the Unbanked

Summary of Financial Viability and Renewable Energy Indicators for MTN Uganda Feasibility Study

Site ROI NPV CAPEX Contribution Battery Base Station Type Suggested forto Power Backup (hr) Implementation

Site #1 33.6% $4,124 $34,177 solar: 41% DG: 59% 13.4 outdoor/DG only Y


Site #3 27.9% -$1,284 $45,830 solar: 37% DG: 63% 13.2 outdoor/DG only N

Site #4 49.1% $26,842 $47,874 solar: 41% DG: 59% 13.4 outdoor/hybrid battery system Y

Site #5 64.8% $44,230 $45,379 solar: 35% DG: 65% 13.4 indoor/DG only Y

Site #6 25.1% -$3,632 $40,840 solar: 36% DG: 64% 17.2 indoor/DG only N

Site #7 34.5% $5,378 $40,167 solar: 52% DG: 48% 13.4 indoor/DG only Y

Site #8 27.9% $2,360 $56,830 solar: 17% DG: 83% 9.61 indoor/hybrid battery system N

Site #9 40.4% $19,561 $56,830 solar: 25% DG: 75% 18.4 indoor/hybrid battery system N



The International Finance Corporation (IFC), amember of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainableeconomic growth in developing countries bysupporting private sector development, mobilisingprivate capital, and providing advisory and riskmitigation services to businesses and governments.IFC’s new investments totalled US$15 billion in fiscal2009, helping channel capital into developingcountries during the financial crisis. For moreinformation, visit www.ifc.org.

The IFC is providing financial support to the GSMAGreen Power for Mobile (GPM) programme, to assistmobile operators in exploring the use of renewable

power base stations as a means of optimising capitaland operating expenditures. Specifically, IFC isseeking to partner with mobile operators indeveloping countries, offering a variety of financialinstruments to enable the implementation of viablebusiness models that leverage renewable power forlong-term efficiency gains.

Through this collaboration, mobile operators indeveloping markets can benefit from an anchoredinvestor, a technical assistance programme, marketresearch, better access to carbon finance andknowledge sharing programmes. For moreinformation contact [email protected].

International Finance Corporation Supports Green Power for Mobile



Solar and wind technologies (including solar andwind hybrids) are currently the most attractivetechnologies for powering base stations. Due to theabundance of sun, commoditisation of solar modules,ease of planning and low running costs, solar is thefavoured choice for green power solutions in manyregions for small load sites (<2kW). However, due tothe fact that CAPEX scales proportionately with load,solar solutions are less economically attractive forlarger sites.

At standard base station loads, the installed cost ofwind technology is more economically viable than foran equivalent solar system due to a lower basicequipment cost. However, variability in wind speedsacross the globe means that wind only solutions arelikely to be restricted to locations such as coastal andmountainous regions where wind is abundant. Hybridsolutions that deliver the benefits of both wind andsolar technologies will therefore bemore common thanwind only solutions at standard base station loads.

Going forwards, other niche technologies will continueto develop, some of which are explored below.

Pico-hydroPico-hydro refers to very small hydro power solutions– typically less than 10kW – that can harness thepower of streams and rivers. It is a mature technologyfor applications such as rural electrification and hasthe lowest CAPEX of all solutions. However, thenumber of locations that are suited to the deploymentof pico-hydro power will limit mass deployment.

Current Market Trends

Evaluating Green Power TechnologiesDavid Taverner, GSM Association

Wind Resources

Diesel Price+

Solar Resources

Note: *Some estimates have been made+Forecasts have been made from 2006 prices

Source: GTZSource: NREL

Source: NREL

2.450.02

US$/Litre



BiodieselBiodiesel can be used as a direct replacement for fossildiesel in base station generators. The application ofbiodiesel to telecommunications must be treated on acase-by-case basis rather than as a universalalternative. The primary consideration for biodieselwill be local access to a supply, and the impact ofproduction on regional agriculture should also beevaluated. Biodiesel application has increased appealin regions that are not competing with food supplies –semi-arid crops such as jatropha.

Fuel CellsFuel cells are a developing technology with limitedproven commercial application to provide the entireload for base stations. They are therefore at presentprimarily considered for limited power loadrequirements such as an alternate battery solution inunreliable grid power locations. Rapid progress isbeing made in the use of fuel cells for base stationshowever, and the GSMA Green Power for Mobile(GPM) programme is continuing to monitor thesedevelopments.

The Green Power forMobile point of view on fuel cellsbelow has been updated as of October 2009.

Overall Ranking

Criteria

*****

*Assuming fuel availability is constant **Assuming purchase of biofuel from a supplier ***Fuel cell CAPEX forecast to improve rapidly

Solar Wind Fuel Cells Biodiesel Pico-hydro Fossil Diesel

CAPEX

OPEX

Reliability

Supplier Availability

Theft Resistance

Public Green Image

Operational Supply Chain Simplicity

Output Predictability*

Resource Availability

Very Good

Key

Good

Okay

Poor

Very Poor

*

?

*

Better Worse


This case study fromMTN SouthAfrica (MTN SA) providesan excellent example of an operator base stationdeployment that incorporates multiple alternative energytechnologies including solar, wind, fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries.

MTN SA is committed to expanding its networkcoverage and providing coverage to even the smallestof places. The recent green project, under SameerDave, Chief Technology Officer, MTN SA, not onlyprovides coverage to people and an area which neverbefore had coverage – it is taking network towers tonew heights, relying on the power of nature.

Kleinaarpan is a small area in the Northern Cape,about 120 kilometers north of Upington – if you searchfor it on Google you get a one page result. The area ishowever well used by tourists who are on route toBotswana and Namibia, and home to South Africanswho love small town living and an 80 metre GSMtower that operates purely on what nature has to offer.“The long time to market for sites without powernecessitated a different approach to realize revenueearlier. Alternative energy sources were funded fromthe budget normally used for the construction ofpower lines and generators, thereby reducing the timeto market and investing in green infrastructure thatbelongs to MTN” says Sameer Dave

A Green Network TowerThe GSM tower site in Kleinaarpan provided thenetwork team at MTN SA with insight into theapplication of renewable energy resources such aswind and solar and provided an opportunity to test‘green’ technology.

The area which previously had no network coveragealso had no alternating (AC) electrical power. Anelectrical supply could have been established but at ahigh cost.

How the ‘Green’ GSM Tower WorksThe primary energy source is from photovoltaic (PV)solar arrays and a wind turbine generator. The energygathered is stored in rechargeable lithium-ion batterieswhich unlike acid batteries can handle hightemperature and change in weather conditions.Lithium-ion batteries, which are similar to mobilephone batteries, can be recharged time and time again.

The back-up energy source is from a hydrogenpowered fuel cell which starts up automatically whenno energy is available from the PV solar arrays andwind turbine generator, or if the battery voltage dropsbelow a certain threshold. The hydrogen poweredfuel cell can also operate for up to eighteen daysshould there be insufficient sun or wind.

In this pilot phase – in order to ensure that the ‘green’technology was efficient and provided sufficientcoverage – the GSM tower also had a weather stationinstalled which measures the sun’s intensity, windspeed, temperature and humidity. Data collected willbe used to analyse the efficiency and utilisation of thegreen energy resources and the output will beincorporated into the design of the next green site.

MTN South Africa is Switching to GreenSameer Dave, MTN South Africa



The GSM tower’s coverage footprint has a 50kmradius.

The average consumption of the site is 1.3kW. Thesolar array is capable of generating 12kW and thewind turbine 7.5kW. MTN is living up to itsexpectation of a ‘green’ movement in telecoms.

The People of Kleinaarpan“The people we stayed with at the RooipanGuesthouse had their phone lines stolen almost twoyears ago and because there was no network toweravailable, mobile phones were also out of thequestion,” says Johan Roos, Contractor, MTN SA.“The only way they could make calls was to drivesome distance to high ground where a mobile phonesignal was available.”

To ensure that the people of Kleinaarpan areconnected all the time, the PV solar arrays used on thesite were built in such a way that they cannot be stoleneasily without damaging the equipment.

Thanks to the establishment of the GSM tower, thepeople of Kleinaarpan can now use mobile phonesand connect to the Internet.


After 30 years of development, the solar industry hasnow scaled to be a major contributor to the globalenergy sector. While the major focus today is orientedtowards grid connected solar power plants, a significantnumber of photovoltaic (PV) solar companies are stillplaying an active role where it all started – in the ruraloff-grid regions. Recently, a new market has openedwith the deployment of solar solutions to power off-grid GSM networks.

The basic ingredients of a successful solar solution –accurate system sizing and use of high quality PVmodules remain the key requirements for a reliableenergy infrastructure. Sizing calculations are wellunderstood andmany quality sizing software packagesare available on the market. However, best practice inweather database selection and sizing methodologiesstill need to be heavily promoted as a pre-requisite toensure every solar deployment delivers optimumperformance.

By deploying massive production capacity, Apex BPSolar is able to promote off-grid solar solutions at a costthat is economically attractive. After decades of localcapacity building from the private sector, the solarindustry benefits from the availability of skilled labourand spare parts at an affordable price and that are easilyaccessible in most emerging markets. This ensuresoperation and maintenance costs are minimised.

For many years, the solar industry and mobileoperators have worked collaboratively to implementsolar power solutions for network infrastructure.Thousands of solar systems are now powering GSMnetworks in off-grid areas with no interruption ofservice. On the technical side, most PV only solutionscan power base station site loads under 2kW.Solar/diesel hybrid solutions are deployed at sites over2kW of load.

Case Study:Telma Mobile, Madagascar

Key input parameters:

Site power requirement: outdoor base station,transceiver configuration 2+2+2, 0.6kW peak load

Insolation (sunlight availability): 4.5kW/m²/day

Site design overview:

100% PV solar powered

Solar PV modules total 4.7kW (48V DC)

Two battery banks of 985Ah (48V) in parallel, totalling 1970Ah (48V)

Battery autonomy: 5.4 days without sun

More than 50 sites installed in one year, by two teamsfrom Electricité De Madagascar (Ocean Trade Group)

Lessons learnt:

- Technical team leader fully capable of installation andcommissioning after a three day training session at Apex BPSolar factory

- High reliability and light maintenance allows local resourcesto maintain equipment even in very remote areas

- Use of various multiple meteorology databases helps find theoptimum solution design

Solar companies such asApex BP Solar offer a numberof services – system design engineering, site planning,andmodular, cost effective solutions including specificstructures, anti-theft options, remote monitoring, aswell as deployment support.

From the various initiatives within both the energyand telecommunications sectors today, there is nodoubt that commitment to green power is a reality.With this in mind, now may be the right time toproduce the right energy mix.

Contact:Bérangère Lançon- Communications dpt :[email protected]

To Learn More:www.apex-bpsolar.com

BP Solar – The Right Time for the Right Energy MixMichel Mansard, Apex BP Solar



Over the past eighteen months, the GSMADevelopment Fund Green Power for Mobile (GPM) programme hassupported six alternative energy projects and deployed a total of 75 ‘green’ base stations with operators acrossAfrica, the Pacific, and South Asia. The programme is on target to complete projects for fifteen mobile operatorsacross 1,000 solar, wind and biofuel base stations by Q4 2010.

Green Power for Mobile Project Locations

Case Study – Digicel Vanuatu Deploys a Green NetworkAreef Kassam, GSM Association

Digicel Vanuatu Network Wide ImplementationThe GSMA Development Fund collaborated withDigicel Vanuatu to assess and start to develop bestpractice for commercial scale rollouts of green powertechnology4. There are currently 24 live sites in theDigicel Vanuatu network running on green power,including eight mission-critical backbone sitescarrying up to 60% of Digicel's traffic.

Vanuatu is a volcanic archipelago of 82 islands in theSouth Pacific. Sixty-five islands are inhabited, but themajority of the population live on just ten of them.Digicel Vanuatu is part of the Digicel Group and has a900 and 1800MHz band licence which stipulateslicence conditions of coverage for 85% of thepopulation.

TBD

DIGICELTBD

TBD

TBDMTN

MTC

IDEA

DIALOG

Current/Completed Projects Planned Projects

Implementation ChallengesThe major implementation challenges faced byDigicel Vanuatu were:

PopulationThe population of Vanuatu is extensively rural andthe geography of the archipelago is such that the tenmain islands are spread north to south overapproximately 700km. The population is 220,000 ofwhich only 25% live in the four main urban areas.

Geography75% of the 250,000 population live in rural areas, sofulfilment of the 85% population coverage under thelicence mandates a major focus on off-grid remotesites. The north to south alignment of the islands overconsiderable distance requires these rural areas tosupport the transmission backbone, further

4 The full GSMA report on the Digicel Vanuatu project is available at www.gsmworld.com/documents/digicel_vanuatu.pdf


exaggerating the importance of many rural sites. Theislands are found in the path of the South Pacificcyclone track which, with seasonal weather variations,places a high autonomy requirement on remote siteswith critical high revenue traffic.

Road AccessThe cost of delivering high and regular volumes ofdiesel to remote off-grid locations was predicted tobe exceptionally high. Furthermore, manymountainous locations are inaccessible to largevehicles carrying heavy loads during the rainyseason.

WeatherThe weather generally offers fair winds during therainy season when solar radiation is lower, andhigher solar radiation outside the rainy season whenthere is less wind. However, the mountainous terrainrequires some sites to be positioned high onmountains where thick cloud can disrupt solarradiation for extended periods and where wind issubject to localised dynamics.

Historic DataThere is only a limited amount of historicmeteorological data available in Vanuatu with whichto perform initial green power site dimensioning.Often this comes from satellite data and in remoteareas such as Vanuatu, contains generic data relatingto 100km wide square sections.

Implementation SolutionSelection of the green powered solutions for thetwenty-four off-grid sites was based upon an initialevaluation of commercial viability, site logistics andthe green power viability of each specific site. Theoverriding case for green power solutions for thesesites was based on commercial and operationaladvantage, with environmental benefits being asecondary advantage. Although the capital cost ofdeploying the green power solutions was higher thanthe diesel generators, they have a fifteen to twenty-five year life span and the operating costs aresubstantially lower without compromising thequality of power availability.

Green power solutions require an integratedplatform of photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines,batteries and power controllers which are normallysupported by a GPRS, GSM or remote monitoringpackage. In deployments such as Vanuatu wherethere are significant variances between individualsites, no one standard solution can be deployed on avolume scale. Variances included differing powerload requirements as well as local micro-climate onaccount of specific terrain.

BP Solar – The Right Time for the Right Energy MixMichel Mansard, Apex BP Solar



650

0

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Site Power (W)

Key Financial Viability ResultsDigicel Vanuatu determined that a financial case forgreen power existed where a 30% or greater InternalRate of Return (IRR) was predicted. The financial casefor wind and solar in Vanuatu was developed basedon existing budgetary quotes and purchase orders thathad been supplied to Digicel plus additionaldimensioning studies.

The chart below shows the forecast strong IRR for thePhase 1 green power sites. It clearly shows financial

viability for sites with less than a 1kW load, but theviability deteriorates as the site load increases. Evenmedium power load sites of 1550W to 1750W areforecast at an IRR of 30%, and are therefore financiallyviable for Digicel.

Problems and Lessons LearnedFor detailed information on the problems andlessons learned during the Digicel Vanuatuproject, please see the full GSMA report atwww.gsmworld.com/documents/digicel_vanuatu.pdf

Chart shows the trend curve for IRR vs site power consumption and a histogram of the site powerconsumption distribution of Phase 1 (seventeen total) green power sites.

Financial Viability for Digicel Vanuatu Sites


Can you please give an overview of Telstra, its networkand its solar activities?Telstra provides fixed, wireless and internet services.We operateAustralia’s largest and fastest 3G network,but also operate 2G. At 30th June 2009 there were 10.2million Telstra mobile service subscribers. More than60% of these were for 3G services. We’re seeing 300%growth in data over our network.

We have over 6800 base stations, 2G and 3G mixed.Two hundred of those are green base stations, all solarpowered. These are all located in remote locationswhere connection to the electricity grid is just notpossible.

Solar allows us to move into areas and providecoverage where we normally wouldn’t be able to. It ishowever expensive – we would do more with it if itcost less.

What other ‘green network’ initiatives does Telstra have?We have put a lot of effort over the last few years intomaking our base stations more efficient. They all havefree air cooling and we use special insulation in ourhuts. Also the temperature levels have been raised toreduce the need for cooling. We do install airconditioners in the huts, but they are only operative athigh temperatures, so are rarely used any more.

The impact of building efficiency into our base stationshas been a reduction in electricity usage of about 25%.Furthermore, we’re installing remote radio headswhich are all passively cooled. Power consumption onthose is about 30% less than standard equipment. Thisis now a standard for installation on rooftops inAustralia. We did a roll-out of more than 2000 remoteradio heads in Hong Kong with CSL of which Telstrais a majority owner.

What are the similarities/differences in your solarstrategy for developed and developing world scenario?China and India for example, are similar to Australia– they are big and have a dispersed population and alot of sunshine. Even though the ARPU is higher inAustralia, a community of a hundred people is notenough to put up a site. India’s and China’s ARPUmay be low, but their volume is high.

Their infrastructure however is not great in terms ofroads but also electricity, especially outside the urbanareas, but they have got the same issues; how to coverthe remote locations in a cost effective way?

What is your strategy for the future?Our strategy is threefold:1. To increase efficiency by reducing power loads

because at low loads solar power becomes moreviable. We are also installing new software thatswitches off the telecoms equipment when it’s notin use, such as at night

2. Secondly we are installing modern telecomsequipment that is more energy efficient

3. Lastly we are looking at alternative energysources – especially solar, and hoping that bylowering the site loads and reducing the cost ofsolar equipment more sites will be solar powered.

Do you see Telstra’s strategy as the future for otherdeveloped countries?The energy efficiency approaches, such as use of freeair-cooling, payback time is less than two years, so thisis interesting for all countries. This approach is reallysimple and not costly – if you knew you were goingto make profit within two years, through energy costsavings, you would do it. It makes good businesssense.

At low site loads and if the cost of solar goes down, Iam sure there will be higher take-up, especially indeveloping countries. In all those countries that havea lot of remote locations, this would open up a wholenew world. It opens up opportunities to expand in asmart way.

A Developed World Viewpoint – Interview with John Romano, TelstraDanielle Pellikaan, GSM Association



In an era of diminishing returns on capital invested,operators across the world are reviewing their costs.For a mobile operator, network OPEX represents asignificant portion of its overall operating cost, andenergy expenditure in turn represents a significantportion of network OPEX – 40% in the case of Bharti-Airtel.

Bharti-Airtel, the market-leader in India, operates98,000 base stations and has an annual energyexpenditure of US$500 million. It has made significantefforts to analyse and reduce the energy costs of itsnetwork by 6%-7% since 2008.

There are four main areas across which Bharti-Airtelhas concentrated efforts to improve energy efficiency– green energy, infrastructure, telecom equipment andexcess capacity shut off.

Bharti-Airtel’s Energy Efficient Base Station Initiatives:

example, lighting and cooling – instead of thetelecommunications equipment. Active cooling,through the use of air conditioners can be equivalentto 40% of site load. Reduction of this cooling loadshould be an operator’s priority ‘quick-win’ to reducethe energy consumption of the site.

Modern telecommunications equipment can operateat 45ºC. By raising the operating temperature of itsshelters, through removal or reduction of activecooling, Bharti-Airtel has reduced the power load ofeach site by 5%, without any impact on equipmentperformance.

Lead-acid batteries – commonly used for backuppower – are more problematic than telecomm-unications equipment and suffer from lifespandegradation if operated at temperatures of over 25ºC.Some sites therefore still require active cooling. Byusing compact outdoor shelters, the volume of cooledair surrounding the battery bank is minimised, andactive cooling power requirements are significantlyreduced. Bharti-Airtel has some outdoor sitesoperating with a total site load of 500W to 1.5 kW,which subsequently ensures the site load is suitablefor alternative energy technology.

An Outdoor Shelter Housing the Battery Bank

Future Trends

Bharti Airtel Addresses Energy Efficiency to Tackle a US$500 Million ProblemRandeep Sekhon, Bharti Airtel

*Old BTS – Old generation & high power consumption BTSSource: Bharti-Airtel

Green EnergyAs green energy is the focus of the majority of thispublication, this article will focus on the other threeareas that have been identified by Bharti-Airtel.

InfrastructureA significant portion of the site load for a base stationis used to power the infrastructure of the site – for

n Solarn Windn Bio dieseln Fuel cells

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InfraGreenEnergy

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Telecommunications Equipment Energy EfficiencyOne of the most effective ways to improve the energyefficiency of telecommunications equipment is to useremote radio head technology. This technologyinvolves positioning the radio aspects of the basestation – including the transceiver and power amplifier– close to where the antenna is mounted, which istypically at the top of the tower. This technology canreduce the power loss incurred when the signal istransmitted from the bottom of the tower by a longfeeder cable (>50m for some towers) to the antenna.

Bharti-Airtel has implemented remote radio headtechnology onmore than 8,000 towers and has yieldeda 15%-20% energy saving for those sites.

Excess Capacity Shut OffMobile networks are designed for peak trafficrequirements to prevent degradation to quality ofservice at peak times. Network peak hours usually lastfor between six to eight hours a day. During theremaining part of the day and more significantly,during the eight to ten hours of night time, thenetworks are mostly idle.

To optimise power consumption telecoms vendorshave recently developed hardware and softwarefunctionality that automatically switches off excesscapacity when it is not needed, i.e. during the night.This can have a dramatic effect on power requirementsthrough the day/night cycle as highlighted in the fieldtrial results below.

SummaryThere are many areas in which mobile operators canfocus their efforts to drive OPEX reductions, and longterm investment needs to be made to save on energybills. However, challenges relating to technologicalunderstanding, business case definition, access totechnology and legacy upgrade cycles need to beaddressed before significant progress can bemade. TheGSMA Green Power for Mobile Working Groupprovides an effective platform for mobile operators,OEMs and niche solutions providers to share learningand develop best practices.

Bharti-Airtel Trial Results of Excess Capacity Shut Off Technology(24 Hrs Carried Erlang Traffic vs. Power Consumption)

Source: Bharti-Airtel field trial


IntroductionThere are more than four billion mobile connectionsworldwide. Over the coming years, many moremillions of people at the base of the economic pyramidare expected to acquire mobile phones, greatlybenefiting their lives, business activities and access toinformation. However, most of these new subscriberswill not have direct access to electricity. This makes itmore challenging and expensive for them to chargetheir mobile phone, not to mention to power themyriad of other daily functions for which electricity isimportant such as lighting, cooking and refrigeration.

The GSMADevelopment Fund believes that the issueof electrification is extremely relevant to mobileoperators. The innovative nature of base of thepyramidmarkets has spawned creative solutions to thecharging problem – primarily via entrepreneurs whoprovide electricity on a per-charge basis, poweredeither by their own access to the grid or through theuse of portable car batteries. But now is the time for themobile industry – including operators, handsetvendors, and renewable energy providers – to betterunderstand and address the challenge of electrification.Excitingly, it seems likely that renewable energydevices, such as photovoltaic chargers, will provide apractical and environmentally friendly fix. Thesesolutions will therefore be beneficial to low incomeconsumers, the planet and the bottom line.

The Market OpportunityThere are 1.6 billion people in the world withoutaccess to grid electricity. The GSMA and Wireless

Intelligence research estimates suggest that 30% ofthose people have a mobile phone connection. Thismeans nearly 500 million people currently have accessto a mobile phone but do not have their ownmeans ofcharging it.

When mobile phones are switched off due to lack ofpower, it can result in missed calls and reduced airtimerevenues for mobile operators. Recent field trialssuggest that when off-grid subscribers are providedwith mobile charging solutions, usage and revenues(measured as Average Revenue per User per month –or ARPU) increases by at least 10%5.

”All of Digicel's operating territories lend themselves to solartechnology given their location in relation to the equator. Wehave seen ARPU lift in the 10-14% range by assessing airtimeusage before and after customers were presented with a solarcharger.” Tom Bryant, Digicel

Then what does this mean for operators? Even whenapplying conservative estimates about the increase ofARPU resulting from charging solutions (10%), as wellas the average airtime spending of the average off-gridcustomer (US$4 per month6), the implication ofDigicel’s case study suggests a formidable commercialopportunity for mobile operators. Were theimmediately addressable market of 500 millionconsumers provided with charging solutions, theexpected increase in direct revenues would totalUS$2.3 billion per year.

Market MomentumGSMA research has shown that the market isgathering momentum: 60% of mobile operatorssurveyed already have off-grid charging initiatives orare investigating off-grid charging solutions.

Two good examples of operators venturing into thefield of off-grid charging solutions are Digicel andSafaricom. Digicel has given out free solar chargers toits consumers and has launched the ZTE producedsolar phone in several markets. Safaricom has installedsmall charging docks on its base stations where peoplecan charge their phones free of charge, and has alsolaunched the ZTE produced solar phone. Operatorexamples are still few and far between however andthe GSMADevelopment Fund is of the opinion that theopportunity can be tapped by many more operators.

Off-grid Charging Solutions for Mobile Phones: A US$2.3 Billion Market OpportunityDanielle Pellikaan, GSM Association

5 Digicel6 GSMA research / Wireless Intelligence



The Digicel ZTE Solar Phone, and the Safaricom BaseStation Charging Dock

The Road AheadIn a world in which 500 million people have mobilephones but lack access to the electricity grid, it is evermore important to develop off-grid charging solutions.Early studies and pilot projects suggest that chargingsolutions lead to increased airtime usage and revenuefor mobile operators, as well as providing tangiblesocial and environmental benefits.

Several possibilities exist for charging mobile phonesin off-grid areas and charging solutions will varydepending upon particular market scenarios. TheGSMA Development Fund expects that many moretrials will take place in the coming years and looksforward to helping accelerate wide scale deploymentof mobile phone charging solutions for the off-gridpopulation. For further information [email protected] or download the fullpublication atwww.gsmworld.com/documents/charging_choices.

ConsiderationsWhen deciding on which of the many off-gridcharging solutions to implement, there are fourimportant choices to consider:

1 Who will use it?Is the solution designed for use by an individual,or by a larger number of people?

2 Who will own it?Will the solution be owned by a consumer, anentrepreneur, a community, a technology company,a mobile operator or an NGO?

3 What will it charge?Will the solution charge only one phone, a fewphones, or can it also charge other devices such aslights and radios?

4 Who will finance it?Will the consumer or the entire community pay forthe solution? Will the operator subsidise it, or willit be necessary to provide microfinance?

The answers to these questions have implications onthe amount of people reached, the maintenance of thesolution, the amount of phones charged and the cost.The GSMA report ‘Charging Choices: Off-gridCharging Solutions for Mobile Phones’, published inSeptember 2009, answers these questions in depth forthe various solutions that are currently on the market.


Can you tell us a bit about Digicel and the markets youoperate in?Digicel is now operating in 33 markets. Our mostrecent acquisition is the world’s smallest countrycalled Neru, with 10,000 inhabitants, in the SouthPacific. But we are also present in medium sizepopulation markets, such as Haiti and Jamaica,where our customer base exceeds two million usersin both countries.

The concentration of the company is in theCaribbean, Central America and now the SouthPacific. More than two thirds of the countries we dobusiness in would be characterised as developingnations by the United Nations. The majority of ourusers spend less than a dollar a day on their mobiletelephony.

What challenges does Digicel face in these markets andhow do you overcome those challenges?By virtue of the fact that these are developingcountries, access to the power grid is extremelychallenging and in many of our markets between halfand a third of our users have little or no reliablepower. That necessitated our critical, commercial andethical requirement and need to make a contributionto the population by seeking a manufacturer whowould develop a solar powered handset.

From a base station and network viability perspectivea core element of Digicel’s network strategy is tohave as many sites as possible that have backuppower from solar panels, as opposed to dieselgenerators on site. Especially on the islands there is ageographical challenge in terms of remoteness ofsites that makes them difficult to access. Associatedwith that is the unreliability and the difficulty ofgetting diesel to remote locations. As a result of that,Digicel is really at the forefront of solar and fuel celltechnology for base stations.

Is providing charging solutions a strategic decision togain more market share?Providing charging solutions to our consumers is astrategic choice targeted at gaining market share.Remarkably, we are now twenty months on from thedistribution of our first chargers and our competitorshave still not responded to the hand-held charger welaunched first, or the more recent solar poweredmobile phone. It is astonishing to us that ourcompetitors are not commercially compelled to meetus at this junction of offering green power solutionsfor handset charging to their customer base. We knowit’s now a necessity and we could never stop doing it.

Are there any other challenges you are facing withregards to base stations?I maintain that the advances in alternate power forbase stations are happening right now. Some of thebest technologies are available at the moment. We arenot on the brink of some huge breakthrough – therevolution is here.

What is Digicel’s solar strategy?We started distributing the RMK solar charger fromthe beginning of 2008 and have recently launched theDigicel/ZTE solar phone – with the Intivation stepup converter technology – in a few of our markets.The Solio mono solar charger will be introduced intovarious markets over Q4 of 2009. We will be handingout a solar powered flashlight that can also power amobile phone as a Christmas present to ourcustomers this year.

What’s Digicel’s future solar strategy?Solar power is a core component of Digicel’s strategygoing forwards. It is not some sort of public relationsgesture for 2009, it is the nature of the way thecompany will conduct itself indefinitely.

A Solar Strategy for the Future – An Interview with Tom Bryant, DigicelDanielle Pellikaan, GSM Association




Glossary of Terms

2G / 3G; second-generation and third-generationmobile telephone technology

AC / Alternating Current - an electrical current or voltage witha changeable direction (polarity) with respect to a fixed reference

Ah / Ampere-hour - unit of electric charge, the electric chargetransferred by a steady current of one ampere for one hour

ARPU - Average Revenue per User

BTS / Base Station Transceiver Station - the name for theantenna and radio equipment necessary to provide mobile servicein an area

CAPEX - Capital Expenditure

COAI - Cellular Operators Association of India

DC / Direct Current - an electrical current or voltage with aconstant direction (polarity) with respect to a fixed reference

IFC / International Finance Corporation - a member of theWorld Bank Group

IRR - Internal Rate of Return

Kg / Kilogram - a kilogram is a unit of mass

Km Kilometre - a kilometre is a measure of distance

KPI - Key Performance Indicator

kVA / Kilovolt-Ampere - the unit of apparent powerKVA is used for measuring the power consumption of non-resistive equipments such as generators

kW / Kilowatt - a kilowatt is a unit of power (seeWatt)

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

GPM - GSMA Green Power for Mobile programme

GPRS - General Packet Radio Service

GSM - Global System for Mobile communications

GSMA - GSMAssociation

MHz / MegaHertz - The hertz is a unit of frequency.It is defined as the number of complete cycles per second.

NGO - Non Governmental Organisation

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer

OPEX - Operating Expenditure

PV / Photovoltaic in this instance refers to PV cellswhich convert visible light into Direct Current

ROI - Return on Investment

V / Volt - the value of the voltage equal to one ampereat one watt of power

W /Watt - a unit of electrical power equal to one ampereunder a pressure of one volt

Green Power for Mobile Resourceswww.gsmworld.com/our-work/mobile_planet/green_power_for_mobile/resources.htm

Reports

Green Power for Mobile: Charging Choicesgsmworld.com/documents/charging_choices.pdfThis study discusses charging solutions for handsetsin off-grid areas and identifies a US$2.3 billionmarket potential for those solutions.

Green Power for Mobile: Top Ten Findingswww.gsmworld.com/documents/green_power_top10.pdfAn overview of the top ten research findings forgreen power solutions for mobile networks.

Case Studies

Commercial Roll-out of Green Power, Digicel Vanuatu (pdf)www.gsmworld.com/documents/digicel_vanuatu.pdfTechnical case study of the commercial roll-out ofgreen power for Digicel Vanauatu.

Wind and Solar, MTC Namibia (pdf)www.gsmworld.com/documents/gsma_case_study_wind_solar.pdfTrial case study; a wind and solar site trial inNamibia with MTC and Motorola.

Biofuels, IEDA Cellular, India (pdf)www.gsmworld.com/documents/gsma_case_study_biofuels.pdfTrial case study; two biofuel trials, one in India withIDEACellular and one in Nigeria with MTN.



Notes

27 GSM Association 2009

For further information please [email protected]

GSMA London OfficeT +44 (0) 20 7356 0600

www.gsmworld.com/greenpower

November 2009

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