Global telecommunications equipment and service company, Ericsson believes that mobile phone subscriptions in the world are likely to almost double by 2013, with an anticipated increase from today's 3.7 billion to 6.5 billion.
Ericsson (News - Alert) said that it expects about 90 percent of growth come from developing markets where more than half of the population lives outside city limits. Billions of new subscribers living in areas in the world that have never had access to communication services will soon be part of the connected society created by mobile telephony.
Before creating reliable mobile networks in rural areas, companies need to deal with the challenge of regular and cost effective power supply. Telecom operators have struggled to offer services outside major population centers because building out electricity grids, while not prohibitively expensive, has been impossible due to geographic and environmental constraints, officials added.
Ericsson said it was attempting to provide mobile telephony in these challenging areas with a combination of energy-efficient products and emphasis on network energy optimization.
"Being at the forefront of innovation is crucial for Ericsson to stay in its leading market position," says Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson. Pointing out that his company was part of history with such technologies as Bluetooth, and was leading the development of the fourth generation of mobile communication.”
Ewaldsson added, “But one must also have in mind how to run mobile networks so that all of us can have access to communication services, no matter whether you live in a big developed city or in a remote village in a country with poor infrastructure."
Alternative energy resource used by Ericsson includes wind power for powering mobile networks located beyond the electricity grid. Officials added that in 2007, Ericsson implemented biofuel as an alternative energy resource, and in 2000 Ericsson was the first telecom player to deploy a solar solution to power a Moroccan operator's mobile network.
While energy-related expenditures, including cost for diesel, can be as high as 50 percent of total network operating costs in some markets, Ericsson officials said that putting the right infrastructure in place was also necessary to ensure cost-efficient day-to-day operations.
Ericsson believes that developing green solutions to build and power mobile networks will allow companies to reach new markets. By using green solutions, telecom operators can build and operate mobile networks cost efficiently and benefit the environment by using less fossil fuel.
Ewaldsson added that Ericsson uses a unique hybrid solution in which use submarine batteries that can be recharged again and again to power a mobile network.
"This solution saves approximately 10,000 liters of diesel per radio site per year, which is 40 to 50 percent of the diesel needed. This adds up to large quantities of fuel that can be saved in a mobile network with hundreds or thousands of diesel powered radio sites," Ewaldsson said.
Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson supplies communications services and manages networks that serve more than 195 million subscribers. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure and broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and developers.
Nitya Prashant is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Nitya's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Jessica Kostek
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