Painting ICT green with Spain's Telefónica

Energy efficiency is the green key

As a global leader in the fixed-line and mobile domains, Telefónica’s network covers 21 countries across Europe and Latin America, and serves more than 300 million users both directly and also through its subsidiaries, which include O2, Movistar, and Manx Telecom. 

The rapid emergence of MBB and FBB has seen global traffic soar, a phenomenon that’s put pressure on networks, jeopardized service quality, and increased the energy used by equipment. To address these issues, Telefónica had to boost its scattering abilities and the power capacity of its communication sites and equipment shelters. 

The carrier’s existing network was suffering huge power losses from legacy power systems running at sub-90 percent efficiency. Limits caused by geography and electricity supply meant that some regions were devouring fuel and ravaging the environment by resorting to diesel generators (D.G.) as the primary power source. 

Telefónica was tasked with balancing service development, reducing damage to the environment, and cutting OPEX. Ganriel Bonilha, Telefónica’s Energy and Infrastructure Deputy Director, made the pledge to modernize its power solutions so as to “no longer allow these legacy systems to waste resources,” and asserted the “company’s commitment to cutting expenditure on power and oil.”

Telefónica’s 2007 plan aimed to use 30 percent less energy by 2015, save €50 million in power costs by 2017, and cut CO2 emissions by 30 percent by 2020. However, Telefónica’s 21-nation network was running different voltage standards and operating environments, and was facing increasing difficulty acquiring sites. 

Moreover, sites were affected by excessive complexity, space limits, weight restrictions on features like rooftops and poles, and multiple energy infrastructure suppliers. In combination, these issues threatened future network capacity expansion and development. Telefónica required a network-wide overhaul that would simplify and centralize the management of all its sites and equipment shelters.

To solve legacy problems and achieve its green plan, Telefónica partnered with Huawei to develop solutions for different types of sites, equipment shelters of varying capacities, and complex and changeable usage environments. 

Green is simple

In 2010, the Telefónica Group began upgrading its network power supply framework and incorporating Huawei’s power systems, opening the door to collaboration on infrastructure projects. A series of successful trials gave Telefónica a clear understanding of the power supply framework it needed, which it then shared with its subsidiary networks. By 2011, Huawei had provided various kinds of customized power systems tailored to each of Telefónica’s subsidiary networks. 

Then, in 2012, Telefónica inspected Huawei’s factories, and lab tested its high efficiency outdoor power system. The tests set an industry record of 96 percent system efficiency, 6 percent higher than traditional solutions, giving the green light for the mass deployment of 20,000 sets across Telefónica’s subsidiary networks. Assuming a single site consumes 3,000 watts on average, the Huawei solution saves a staggering 3.65 million watts of electricity per year. 

In 2014, the two parties jointly launched a pilot office at Telefónica’s headquarters in Spain to research and test reducing the energy used by D.G.s. Compared to a conventional D.G. running for 24 hours, Huawei’s hybrid electric-oil diesel generators used 60 percent less oil running 8 hours a day.

In 2013, Telefónica’s Peru subnet agreed to help the Peruvian government improve rural communications by building a public mobile network comprising a high number of base stations. However, Peru’s rural areas are primarily in mountainous or forested areas, and over 50 percent of villages were not connected to the power grid. This meant that access to electricity was difficult: villages were generally located between 7 and 10 km from the grid, so access costs were extremely high, averaging US$30,000 per kilometer. 

Because one-third of Peru receives enough sun for solar power, Telefónica selected Huawei’s hybrid solar power solution for the entire network of around 2,000 sites. When deployed, the scheme delivered a solar conversion efficiency of 98.5 percent and resulted in a slew of benefits: It resolved coverage problems in remote areas, slashed CAPEX and O&M costs, required no oil, and established a model for green mobile solutions in a rural setting. 

By 2014, Telefónica had made great progress in accomplishing its green ICT plan. Then, Telefónica’s Director of Operations, Juan Manuel Caro, announced the group’s new of goal of saving €50 million in energy costs by 2017 at the 5th Energy and Climate Change Summit. 

In response, the group’s Mexican subsidiary has spearheaded energy conservation work by formulating a plan to upgrade its small, crowded indoor power systems. Telefónica wanted to reuse its existing assets as far as possible, control project fees, and greatly increase power efficiency without adding new cabinets. 

The carrier opted for Huawei’s sub-rack power relocation and upgrade plan, which used existing power cabinets and backup batteries to reduce costs. Post-upgrade power efficiency increased from 85 percent to above 96 percent and, remarkably, the payback period for almost 800 sites is estimated to be less than three years.

Collaboration forges a green leader

Years of cooperation have seen Telefónica and Huawei jointly deploy many power supply solutions in telecom sites and equipment shelters. Examples include systems and solutions for rooftop-stacked power, pole power schemes, power sharing, hybrid D.G.-grid power, and indoor sites. Running on Telefónica’s existing networks, Huawei’s power equipment can support MIMO multiple energy source input and output such as HVDC and remote DC supply. It also provides intelligent NMS access to deliver visible, controlled, and manageable network O&M. 

Telefónica expressed its appreciation for Huawei in 2014, bestowing on it the group’s award for Best Partner. Hou Jinlong, president of Huawei Network Energy, described the successes the two have enjoyed together: “We are very happy to have helped Telefónica resolve problems such as site acquisition, construction, and O&M in complex environments, and assist Telefónica maximize energy efficiency and reduce energy use, emissions, and OPEX.” He went on to express the value Huawei places on the partnership, “I’d like to thank Telefónica for its sustained faith in Huawei, and for choosing our all-scenario, full-series, and customized telecom energy solutions.” 

Hou believes that the evolution of network architecture, power supply frameworks, and network energy efficiency are long-term processes that require the two industry leaders to continue walking a long road together. Expressing Huawei’s intentions for the future, Hou concluded that: “We sincerely hope that Telefónica and Huawei will maintain a long and strong partnership that continues in the spirit of innovation. Huawei is committed to helping Telefónica become a leader in green ICT services.”