Abstract

Energy consumption and over-dependence on conventional energy sources for telecom operations are becoming significant concerns for countries. With climate change and global warming taking center stage globally, it is desirable that energy consumption is reduced and sincere efforts are made to transition towards renewable energy sources. India is taking proactive steps in this direction, implementing actions at both policy and operational levels to reduce emissions from its telecom sector significantly. Given that telecom towers consume substantial energy for signal transmission, this article discusses the necessary actions to reduce energy consumption by energy-efficient technologies and products, minimising resources used in telecommunication, improvement of the intelligence of the network through trade-offs between energy consumption and traffic leads and shifting towards renewable energy sources, with a key focus on policy and operational aspects so that a general framework for green telecom is developed in India. A typical calculation for the energy saving that results from migrating to renewable energy sources is also done using replacement cost and payback period calculations.