There’s more environment-focused news from big industry names at MWC 2024. This time it involves Indonesian telecommunications company Telkomsel, which has formed a strategic collaboration with vendor Ericsson.
The two companies have agreed to activate what are described as cutting-edge radio access network (RAN) energy efficiency features as well as trial 5G standalone (SA) technology in the existing Ericsson area in Telkomsel’s network. The collaboration was formalised with the signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) on 26 February 2024 at MWC 2024.
Telkomsel says that this collaborative effort aligns with Telkomsel's commitment to become the best digital telco service provider in its region by consistently delivering environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and efficient services through the utilisation of cutting-edge technology. This commitment also marks the companies’ collaboration to support Indonesia in achieving its Net Zero 2060 goal and reducing carbon emissions by 2030.
Ericsson says its RAN energy efficiency features will enable radios to automatically enter a low power state in the hours when network traffic is relatively low and disable this functionality during peak traffic hours. This will empower Telkomsel to handle growing data demand while at the same time reducing energy consumption, with, it says, no compromise on mobile user experience.
These initiatives are described as integral to Telkomsel and Ericsson's collective agreement to achieve net zero targets while also reducing operational expenditure (OPEX). According to the Net Zero Summit and B20 Investment Forum, Indonesia is committed to cut carbon emissions, aiming for net-zero emissions by 2060 or even earlier. Aligned with the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document, Indonesia has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 29% through domestic efforts and 41% through international collaboration by the year 2030.
In addition, both companies have agreed to continue the 5G evolution journey, from 5G NSA (non-standalone) commercial deployment into exploration of 5G SA, as well as capturing new use cases by exploring Ericsson’s Reduced Capability (RedCap) software. This is a new radio access network (RAN) software solution that creates new 5G use cases and enables more 5G connections from devices such as smartwatches, other wearables, industrial sensors and AR/VR devices.
