解决能源痛点

Troubleshooting energy pain points INSIGHT SPOTLIGHT handle higher capacity loads. How best to increase the energyefficiency of those parts of the network? How far along aretechnical innovations in the edge and cloud compared to the This Spotlight isthe latest inaresearchseries in partnershipwith Dell and Intel on the use of edge compute and RAN as partof sustainability strategy.Followingthe publication ofThe nextgeneration of operator sustainabilityand Spotlights onopen RAN Aswell as exploring these questions below, GSMA Intelligencewill be at MWC Barcelona 2024 to discussthemin more detail,including at theSustainability Summiton28February 2024. Thehuge rise in mobile data traffic forecast over the remainderof the decade means both edge and cloud compute will have to Analysis No ‘one size fits all’ solution; it depends on the location Taking the network temperature The RAN is furthest along in terms of energy innovation A network is not one ‘thing’. While the RAN is what most peoplewould ascribe as the traditional infrastructure asset of mobileoperators, as more workloads are shifted to the cloud and 5Gcores become ‘cloud native’, the modern network is an The RAN accounts forthe majority ofenergy consumption fortelecoms networks, at 75–80% on average, making it the lowest-hanging fruit. Hardware, and even software, innovations have The highest area of importance for operators is customisation. Inpractice, this means things like site selection to systematicallycoordinate 2G/3G retirements, with targeted upgrades of 4G sites To drill down into this context, operators were surveyed on howsuppliers could effect positive change in energy efficiency at AI is needed for intelligence in the edge and cloud Source:GSMA Intelligence Operators in Focus: Network Transformation Survey Demand for better monitoring and analytics software in the edgeand cloud reflects the structural increase in compute power needed Selling 5G into enterprises should include promotion ofenergy-efficiency credentials What is the most important thing your network suppliers and partners can doto help your company improve energy efficiency in each area?N=100 operators, June/July 2023 Edge deployments sit along a continuum rather than in one place.This means data could be processed on a device/end-user terminal(e.g.a smartphone or car),atanindustrial premises or between The challenge for operators and their partners is to be able to trackthe energy use at each of these portions of the network stack and,crucially, be able tomake adjustmentsin real time. AI analytics is Inefficient hardware remains the main problem for fixed line In many ways, fixed line access is where mobile wasthreeor fouryears ago.This boils downtoinefficiencywith legacy copper.Theamount of electricity needed per GB of data for copper is four to Fibre is expanding in Europe, the US, the GCC states and high-income countries in Asia, reducing this burden. However, copperremains the primary form of fixed-line broadband infrastructure Implications Mobile operators Vendors •Compiling the dashboard–The first stepisunderstandingelectricity usage and efficiency at each level of the network.GSMA Intelligence’s Telco Energy Benchmark research isaimed at this, splitting out electricity usage in the RAN, coreand ancillary operations (mostly fleet and property). The latestreading from 2022showscorenetwork energy efficiency •Hand in glove–The co-opetition nature of the telecoms andtech industries means competitors will be partners in othercontexts. From an energy standpoint, this means edge andcloud suppliers would do well to co-develop and co-reportproof points on the efficiency gains from successive product •All roads lead to AI–The AI clamour is no different when itcomes to cloud and edge computing. This holds for a range ofapplications, including dynamically shifting datacentre trafficfrom hotspots to underused assets, and edge assetsembedded with AI for orchestration and optimisation. AI •Turning weakness into an advantage–Energy isincreasingly becoming a unique selling point for operators,particularly whentargetingenterprisecustomers. Despite this, science and R&D is likely to be the fastest growing investmentarea in 2024, as it feeds into almost every product in theenterprise IT space. This also foreshadows a potentially GSMA Intelligence survey data indicates most operators(50%) still view themselves as competitively weak on energyefficiency, while 30% view it as a competitive strength. Flipping these numbers means investing in more efficienttechnology and having reliable proof points for the energy This research has been supported by our partners Dell Technologies and Intel. For more information and to learn more, check out:PowerEdge.Next for Telecom e-Guide | Telecom Infrastructure | Dell Technologies Info Hub Authors Related reading Tim Hatt, Head of Research and ConsultingEmanuel Kolta, Lead Analyst, Network Sustainability The next generati