The Indian telecom market is currently in a transitional phase. The face of the sector is expected to change entirely. It is, therefore, important for operators to understand the changes and chalk out their game plan accordingly.
With around 350,000 towers currently deployed across the country, more than 2.5 billion litres of fuel are consumed every year, leading to CO2 emissions of 5.3 million tonnes. With the focus shifting to rural sites that have no or low connectivity to the power grid, opex savings and reduction in energy consumption and carbon footprints become key priorities. In this scenario, a new class of energy service companies offering complete site and energy management solutions is emerging.
Present business model
The conventional passive telecom infrastructure equipment space revolves around components like power management units, DC power systems, batteries, diesel generator (DG) sets, shelters and air conditioners.
Also, the market witnesses strong competition among manufacturers for supplying these components. However, the industry has already reached its nadir as the market has become saturated.
High opex challenges
? High recurring costs pertaining to fuel, fuel pilferage and maintenance are a key issue. At present, diesel generators operate for almost five hours in urban areas and for 8-10 hours in rural areas. The challenge is to reduce their operating time.
? Sealed maintenance-free batteries used at sites require air conditioning. The cost of running and maintaining air conditioners (ACs) at indoor sites contribute to 50 per cent of energy bills. Apart from adopting means to reduce and gradually eliminate the use of ACs, there is an urgent need to evaluate alternative battery technologies.
? Multiplicity and integration of equipment as well as opex optimisation at sites are key challenges.
? Limitations on remote management and control lead to high supervision and maintenance costs. With several sites at remote locations, remote monitoring is essential for energy consumption and manpower cost reduction.
? Almost 50 per cent of the site opex is related to energy costs, which need to be reduced.
Next phase of growth
The Indian telecom space has already crossed the 850 million mobile subscriber mark with urban teledensity crossing 150 per cent and rural teledensity at 33 per cent. The industry is likely to cross the 1 billion mark by 2012.
The next market for passive infrastructure solutions is the rural segment. This space can be addressed by providing hybrid solutions that have low opex and a small carbon footprint. The rural market is also gradually maturing and shifting from components to complete solutions offerings.
Business case for green hybrid solutions
Green hybrid solutions can help in reducing the opex and carbon footprint at a telecom site. The benefits of such solutions can be especially seen in remote areas with weak or no power grid connectivity.
The telecom industry?s energy and site expenses, and carbon footprint can be significantly reduced through the use of high efficiency products, smart system management and the introduction of renewable energy sources.
Such solutions do not require heavy duty shelters, ACs, stabilisers or isolation transformers. The building blocks of such solutions include:
? Unified control with advanced diagnostics and remote management
? Alternative energy offerings including solar, wind, fuel cells
? Low-maintenance batteries that are immune to extreme temperatures and have a longer life
? AC or DC DG sets with variable speed engines and low fuel consumption
? Optimal energy management through auto prioritisation of input sources with emphasis on alternative energies, and optimal usage and management of batteries and DG sets
There is a common fallacy of viewing these building blocks independently and taking purchase-related decisions separately for each of the building blocks. It shifts the onus of total savings from the solution provider to the equipment buyer. It is important to understand each of the building blocks and examine the complete solution offering. It is also essential to compare solutions and the total cost of ownership, rather than examining only the capex and building blocks separately.
