Rising Network Energy Consumption in the 5G Era
Understanding the Balancing Act Between Advancements in 5G Network Technology and Energy Efficiency.
Network Energy Consumption: Trending Up
The U.S. telecom industry grapples with a substantial energy challenge compounded by a 30% surge in costs during the 5G NSA transition. This challenge is compounded by limited returns on the 5G investment and diverting their attention from crucial energy innovations. Energy costs represent a significant challenge and growing concern for mobile network operators.
Most of the energy consumption is in the RAN. 5G conversion and 3G decommissioning presents short term benefits but masks the long-term challenges facing carriers. Energy savings in network operations are necessary rather than a nice to have.
Average Operator Energy Consumption
Use your fingers to pinch and zoom the image.
Source: GSMA Intelligence
- Increased consumption will outperform lower watt per bit ratio efficiencies from new 5G and AI/ML enabled energy features (Massive MIMO sleep mode, energy scheduler), however, the rate of data traffic growth is increasing
- Continued rise in mobile data traffic, estimated at 6.4 GB per user per month in 2019 and forecasted to grow 3-4x on a per-user basis over the next five years (global)
