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The operator says it is also leveraging AI, machine learning, and big data analytics to drive energy efficiencies across its network

This week, Vodafone UK has shed some light on the continued work the company is doing to improve its network’s energy efficiency, including installing solar panels at a mobile telephone exchange site in Gloucester.

In total, 720 solar panels will be deployed at the site, producing 240,000kWh of energy every year. According to the operator, this should account for around 12% of the exchange’s energy consumption.

This site is expected to be the first of many, with Vodafone suggesting it will deploy solar panels at similar locations around the UK over the next two years.

Alongside this deployment, Vodafone has outlined a number of other energy saving initiatives it has initiated in recent years, largely based around the use of AI, machine learning, and big data analytics. This includes using the technology to identify parts of the network that are consuming more energy than typically expected, allowing them to be proactively targeted for correction.

In addition, Vodafone says its Smart Sites programme, first announced back in 2021, has been combining IoT sensors with AI, allowing sites to be monitored remotely and remove the need for engineering visits. The programme currently covers 1,300 of Vodafone’s most energy-hungry mobile sites.

As a result of these combined energy saving measures, Vodafone notes that although the data carried over its UK network has increased 300% since 2019, the network’s energy usage remains flat.

“We all recognise the need to drive energy efficiencies – both from a financial and environmental perspective. The fact we’ve been able to decouple the link between data carried, energy consumption and carbon emissions is thanks to our laser-focus on energy efficiency – and nowhere is this more important than across our network,” explained Andrea Dona, UK Network Director at Vodafone.

“Using our own technologies to deliver brilliant programmes such as big data and Smart Sites is hugely impactful.  Onsite power generation is another important ambition, and I’m delighted we now have our first on-site solar up and running at our Gloucester MTX.”

Vodafone has been experimenting with on-site renewable energy solutions on their mobile network. Back in 2021, the company announced it was working with energy specialist Crossflow Energy to develop mobile Eco-Towers, powered by renewable energy generated on-site by both solar and wind. The operator says that, in future, this combined technology could allow some of its sites to function entirely independently of the national grid.

Vodafone Group has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for its UK operations by 2027, before reaching net-zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2040.

Find out what’s next on the journey to build sustainable networks at this year’s live Connected North conference

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Customers of Virgin Media and O2, specifically those who enjoy connecting to their public WiFi service on the London Underground, have been left confused after the operator suddenly closed the service on 31st March 2023. The move is not quite what many were expecting to occur. We recently reported that Virgin Media planned to retire […]

Press Release

One hundred policy makers and regulators across 19 African countries attended virtual workshops in emerging technologies over a three-month period

Ericsson and Smart Africa Digital Academy announce the digital upskilling of 100 policy makers and regulators across 19 African countries on the topics of emerging technologies to promote and boost digital transformation across Africa through education and capacity building.

Signed in September 2022, the collaboration aims at enhancing digital skills of a target group of senior officials from ministries and regulatory authorities, in charge of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by providing access to Ericsson’s global skills program – Ericsson Educate.

In addition to access to self-learning digital skills content, the Ericsson Educate program helped deliver a series of webinars led by 27 Subject Matter Experts from Ericsson. The collaboration ran from November 2022 to January 2023.

The specially curated virtual workshops covered topics related to emerging technologies part of the Fourth Industry Revolution (4IR) such as 5G networks, Internet of Things (IoT), Network Security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML).

Thelma Quaye, Director of Infrastructure, Skills and Empowerment at Smart Africa highlighted:” The Fourth Industrial Revolution is fueled by innovation and knowledge. Technology offers a great opportunity for Africa to embrace new opportunities to boost digital transformation and contribute to the global economy. We are glad to see our participants benefitting greatly from our collaboration with Ericsson, and we are looking forward to witnessing the positive advancements that will be brought about.”

Fida Kibbi, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Communications and Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson Middle East and Africa says: “We are happy to see the fruitful outcome of our collaboration with Smart Africa Digital Academy within such a short time period. Equipped with a deeper understanding on how existing and emerging technologies work and how these can be best used, the policy makers and regulators can enable the digital transformation of the continent by creating the best conditions for citizens, consumers, and businesses.”

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Also in the news:
NTT and Microsoft collaborate to enhance corporate cyber resilience
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Benchmarking firm Opensignal has their latest Mobile Network Experience Report for Q1 2023, which examines the 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) services of all four primary network operators – EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three UK – to find which delivers the best performance. Once again, Three UK and EE continued to sweep the awards. The […]

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Viewpoint

I’ve enjoyed my tenure as a judge for the Total Telecom World Communication Awards (WCA) for several years. This year, one category will be enhanced by taking Customer Experience to Total Experience. Historically, the Customer Experience Award has garnered many submissions, so why change it? The WCA asked if I would weigh in, and as a technology industry analyst that covers networking and telecommunications – I am always eager to share my insights and perspective.

If it ain’t broken, why fix it?

That’s a famous expression from my birthplace in Austin, Texas, and it wholeheartedly applies here. Customer experience, or CX, as it has been coined by many in the tech world, is at the forefront of many mobile network operators (MNO), communication service providers (CSP), and networking infrastructure company strategies. Why, might you ask? A lack of focus on CX can result in poor application and service experience, missed service level agreements (SLAs) and other negative consequences, leading to the dreadful notion of subscriber churn and financial penalties. On the other hand, a proactive focus on CX can provide differentiation, drive innovation, and lead to incremental monetization opportunities. However, the WCA’s decision to broaden the award category from Customer Experience to Total Experience is a smart move for many reasons. Let’s dive in!

Defining the Total Experience

CX mainly captures the subscriber journey. Undoubtedly, it is a valuable endeavour, but the MNO and CSP experience are equally important. These companies are under intense operational and capital expense pressure to deploy next-generation public and private 5G networks and the underlying services that will transform consumer and enterprise applications. It is a challenging task, thus these efforts should be recognized with the new award category focusing on Total Experience. The trend toward using open, disaggregated hardware in the radio access network and cloudification of the converged core infrastructure will likely immediately impact greenfield network deployments. Some examples include Dish Wireless in the U.S., Rakuten in Japan and Reliance JIO in India – but the telecommunications industry should recognize efforts beyond these broader ecosystem considerations. I believe that the WCA Total Experience Award will deliver on this objective for both net-new network deployments and existing ones too.

Wrapping up

I applaud the WCA’s decision to broaden the popular Customer Experience award to Total Experience. This move will recognize not only the subscriber’s experience but also the operator. Both are essential measures that should be quantified and recognized for the collective impact on the telecommunications industry – totally!

If you are interested in entering the Total Experience Award, or any other WCA category, the first step is to download the categories brochure. Entries close on 16 June 2023.

Will Townsend is the Vice President and Principal Analyst that manages the Networking Infrastructure, Telecommunications and Security practices at Moor Insights & Strategy. He advises some of the world’s largest networking infrastructure providers and mobile network operators. Townsend has been featured on the NBC Today Show, NPR, CNBC, and the Wall Street Journal, providing insights into enterprise networking, 5G and security. Mr. Townsend is also considered one of the top technology analysts in the world as measured by ARInsights and his consistent ranking within the ARchitect Analyst Power 100.

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