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Thomas K. Thomas

New Delhi, Sept. 29 Concerned over the rising cost of operations, telecom companies are demanding that the Government continue the subsidy on diesel for mobile operators. According to industry estimates, cellular operators spend nearly 35 per cent of their operational expenditure on procuring diesel for running generator sets that power their base stations. The proposal to remove the subsidy on diesel for corporate users would result in higher costs for telecom companies.

The Cellular Operators Association of India and the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India are planning to approach the Government seeking a total exemption or only a marginal increase in diesel price on the grounds that telecommunications is a public utility industry and any change in fuel costs would directly impact the consumer.

“Telecom companies are rolling out their networks in remote areas where there is no power or road. As it is, operators are functioning under tremendous financial pressure to reach out to these rural areas. Some companies even deploy helicopters to transport diesel to remote places in order to keep the mobile networks running. The Government should encourage the creation of this vital infrastructure by exempting telecom operators if they decide to remove the subsidy,” said a GSM player.

Operators said that regular power shortfall is over 14 per cent during peak hours and 9 per cent during non-peak hours even in urban areas, which makes them dependent on alternative sources of energy such as diesel.

Meanwhile, equipment vendors and technology companies such as Nokia Siemens and Ericsson are working on energy-efficient solutions to help operators cut down on rising fuel costs. Nokia Siemens Networks’ Energy Efficiency solution claims to reduce the energy consumption of a base station site by up to 70 per cent.

The four main elements of the solution are minimising the number of base station sites, minimising the need for air conditioning to cool the sites, using the latest base station technology and, deploying software features that optimise the use of radio access for wireless communications.

Traditional base station sites are located indoors, where the typical temperature of 25{ring}C is maintained with high energy-consuming air conditioning. By increasing the ambient temperature to up to 40{ring}C, energy consumption can be reduced by up to 30 per cent in existing base station equipment, according to Nokia.

“Energy constitutes the third biggest component of a mobile operator’s operating expenses. By improving energy efficiency in networks and using alternative energy sources, customers reduce dependency on oil and other energy sources which are threatened by escalating costs due to supply paucity,” said Mr Juha-Erkki Mantyniemi, Head of Environmental Affairs, Nokia Siemens Networks.

Similarly, Ericsson has developed base stations that function on bio-fuels and is doing a pilot with Idea Cellular.

More Stories on : Telecommunications | Petroleum

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