Serbian mobile operator Vip mobile is trialing renewable energy in a bid to cut costs and boost network coverage in remote areas.
A single base station in an area off the main electricity grid has been equipped with solar panels, wind turbines and deep cycling batteries, which are used in conjunction with existing diesel generators.
Nokia Siemens Networks, which supplied the ‘green’ kit, claims the set-up can cut an operators use of diesel generators from twenty-four hours to three hours a day. The vendor is also providing remote energy management services during the six month trial.
Rene Schiefer, Vip’s access network head, says green technology has the potential to help the firm minimize the environmental impact of extending network coverage to parts of Serbia that are currently under-served, by cutting “our reliance on diesel generators to power telecom infrastructure in areas with limited or no grid connectivity.”