BT Group has implemented energy-saving ‘cell sleep’ technology across its EE mobile sites nationwide, following successful trials in each of the UK’s home nations. This innovative technology uses machine learning to predict periods of low demand and puts certain 4G LTE capacity carriers to sleep when they’re not needed.
The ‘cell sleep’ software automatically wakes up during busy periods and can react to unexpected surges in demand, ensuring there’s no interruption to customers. Additionally, a ‘deep sleep’ mode can be activated during overnight periods of extremely low demand, further conserving energy.
Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer at BT Group, shared his excitement: “There is huge potential for energy savings across our networks by dynamically matching power consumption against network usage. The optimisation and roll-out of cell sleep technology to over 19,500 sites across the UK is a significant milestone in achieving this, and an important development in countering the massive growth in data consumption we’re seeing across our networks.”
The technology is expected to save up to 2 KWh per site per day, totaling 4.5 million KWh per year across EE’s estate. This reduction in energy demand is a crucial step toward BT Group’s goal of becoming a net zero carbon emissions business by March 2031.
Earlier this year, BT Group also switched off its legacy 3G network, which will save 17.44 million KWh per year. Additionally, the company has been upgrading to more energy-efficient RAN equipment, including ultra-lightweight Massive MIMO technology, which uses up to 40% less energy than previous radio equipment generations.
