Safaricom Kenya and Nokia have announced an initiative to save on network energy usage and cost – one that makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Nokia says it has deployed its AVA Energy Efficiency software for Safaricom Kenya to help the operator achieve lower power consumption and costs over its 5G, 4G and 3G networks.
Nokia says that the rollout, covering approximately 30,000 5G, 4G and 3G cells, is expected to lead to planned network energy cost savings of 8-10%. It follows the recent successful completion of a pilot programme with Safaricom Kenya.
Nokia says that AVA for Energy uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to shut idle and unused equipment automatically during low usage periods while maintaining customer experience; this, the company adds, is done in conjunction with Nokia Radio Energy Efficiency features.
Nokia says it has a growing list of more than 50 completed or active energy-saving projects with service providers around the world, as operators increasingly look to reduce energy consumption and costs, and address environmental sustainability issues in their networks.
As Anthony Gacanja, Network Director at Safaricom Kenya, puts it: “Network power consumption is a challenging issue for operators on many levels, including costs and from an environment perspective. This rollout with Nokia represents an important step to helping Safaricom Kenya mitigate this challenge while delivering the same network quality and reliability to our customers.”
Nokia-supplied energy efficiency has been very much in the news lately. We reported recently that Philippine operator Globe Telecom had deployed Nokia’s AI-powered energy efficiency software via a SaaS model to lower network power consumption and costs.
But it’s not just about Nokia. Last month Saudi Arabian mobile operator Zain KSA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei to cooperate on green energy solutions for 5G networks.
