Sustainability seems like an easy sell... Even for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Connectivity Service Providers (CSPs), and private network operators. You’re not going to find many people who are opposed to clean air, clean water, and clean neighborhoods to raise their families in. All of us are ready to sign on to initiatives that protect the environment and reduce waste so long as those reductions don’t limit our personal and professional freedoms. The trouble starts, as it often does when governments begin dictating overly restrictive legislation that drives up the cost of operating a business and limits growth.
Turning Lemons into Lemonade
While government regulations for the reduction of carbon emissions vary widely from country to country, most nations have set their sights on 2030 as a target date. The European Union is working towards a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to their 1990 levels, while the United States has a slightly less aggressive goal of approximately 50% below their 2005 levels. Dozens of other countries including India, China, Japan, Russia, Canada, Brazil, and Australia are all at various phases of enacting CO2 emission restrictions on businesses and individual citizens.
Many existing businesses like ISPs, CSPs, and private networks are suddenly faced with the challenge of navigating the complexities of full regulatory compliance. New laws encompass everything from supply chain sustainability to carbon reporting and disclosure, and of course, increasing overall network energy efficiency.
When you pair the new environmental sustainability laws with enormous Year-over-Year (YoY) spikes in energy costs, the incentives for businesses to quickly comply begin to pile up. Vendors who can offer service providers and network operators innovative solutions that reduce their environmental impact from the earliest stages of the supply chain all the way up to deployment, as well as significantly reduce ongoing energy consumption, are bound to be big winners in the new sustainability marketplace.
Get the Most Bang for Your Sustainability Buck
Luckily for many service providers and network operators, sustainability regulations and energy cost increases are coinciding with a long-planned shift to high-capacity low-latency 5G networks. Those who are already in the process of shopping and actively engaging with vendors can simply add energy efficiency to their list of requirements for new network elements and infrastructure.
With that in mind, here is our list of key considerations to help you get the biggest return on your sustainability investment.
- Lower Power Consumption, Higher Savings
Similar to the automotive industry's response to the 1970s gasoline shortages, today's sustainability demands are reshaping network infrastructure design. Just as automakers made the move from gas-guzzling muscle cars to more compact fuel-efficient vehicles, wireless transport vendors like Ceragon are prioritizing the design and production of more energy-efficient radios.
This shift isn't just about ‘greener solutions’, it's a strategic move to provide ISPs, CSPs, and private network operators with sustainability-compliant options that quantifiably reduce energy consumption costs along with a multitude of other operating expenditures.
When environmentally friendly options exist that also make good business sense everyone wins, and adoption becomes easy and friction-free. - Size Matters. Smaller Devices, Reduced Costs
Compact devices, when designed to deliver similar or even superior functionality and performance, can off a chain reaction of significant cost savings.
First and foremost, they translate to lower production costs. Smaller devices require fewer materials during manufacturing. This reduction in raw material usage typically lowers production expenses while also contributing to a lighter ecological footprint.
Shipping costs also benefit from downsizing. Smaller devices demand less packing material, occupy less cargo space, and weigh less. As a result, fewer trucks or boats are needed for transportation, reducing energy consumption and emissions during transit.
Furthermore, devices with smaller footprints often consume less power, which not only saves on operational costs but also aligns with sustainability goals by reducing overall energy demand.
In the world of wireless telecom transport, smaller devices also add up to savings in terms of real estate. Less space on communication towers is required to accommodate these compact devices, translating to lower rent and ongoing operational expenditures.
The choice to embrace compact devices, with equal or better functionality, sets in motion a domino effect of efficiency gains. Vendors like Ceragon that have invested in designing and releasing new network elements with significantly smaller footprints are leading the way toward a more sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly future.
- Leveraging Ceragon's ASD Innovation
What if there were a way to slash your longhaul equipment capital expenditure (CAPEX) by a whopping 25%? Sounds like a game-changer, right? Well, Ceragon's proprietary Advanced Space Diversity (ASD) solution is here to make that possibility a reality.
The core idea behind ASD is to have multiple spatially diverse paths for signal transmission. This redundancy helps mitigate the impact of signal degradation due to weather conditions, interference, or other factors. By intelligently managing these multiple paths, ASD improves the overall performance and reliability of the link.
Ceragon’s ASD solution can deliver the same redundancy benefits but with only 3 antennas instead of 4 (two on one side, one on the other). The 25% reduction can quickly add up to huge CAPEX and OPEX savings, especially in instances of longhaul rural deployments when multiplied across several links.
Backhaul deployments that suffer from high interference or challenging propagation environments can also benefit from ASD. Ceragon's ASD can help ensure stable and high-capacity connections, supporting the aggregation of traffic from multiple access points.
Just like in the previous section where we discussed the sustainability benefits that come with smaller devices, 25% fewer devices will deliver significant manufacturing, packaging, and shipping savings. When it’s time to deploy, 25% fewer components equate to a faster, more streamlined installation process with less room for error.
But as you may have guessed, the good news doesn’t end with CAPEX. Ceragon’s ASD solution delivers 25% cuts in energy consumption and ongoing operating expenses (OPEX).
- AI-Powered Automatic Carrier Deactivation
Ceragon Insight is a Unified Network Intelligence and Management Suite capable of cross-vendor control of microwave and E-band devices. The AI-powered monitoring, management, and maintenance solution, employs advanced algorithms to identify periods of low network traffic and then intelligently deactivates carriers when their capacity is not required.
This seemingly simple approach may remind you of when your dad asked you to turn off the lights when you left a room, there’s no doubt about it – dad was on to something.
The impact is substantial, with Ceragon Insight achieving up to a 50% reduction in power consumption during idle periods. This intelligent monitoring feature optimizes energy efficiency and makes a significant dent in the environmental footprint of wireless transport networks.
- Energy Harvesting
The energy required to power a network element generates a surprising amount of heat, so much so that the external case is designed specifically to radiate heat away from the sensitive internal components. What if you could capture that heat and turn it back into usable power? That is just one of the many innovations Ceragon is developing to intelligently harvest energy, reduce your network’s carbon footprint, and cut OPEX costs.
Energy harvesting involves capturing and utilizing ambient energy sources, such as radiant heat from device operation, solar, and wind power to supplement the energy needs of transport networks.
By incorporating energy harvesting techniques into new product designs, Ceragon demonstrates its dedication to pushing the boundaries of innovation while focusing on sustainable solutions that balance environmental concerns with business needs.
Embracing Eco-Friendly Sustainability for Big Business Benefits
While new sustainability regulations may initially feel like an inconvenient business burden, the ultimate outcome will likely tell a different story. The mandate to move towards a greener, more sustainable wireless transport network landscape is serving as the catalyst for the creation of innovative technologies and efficient operations that lead to substantial short- and long-term cost savings.
By reducing energy consumption, optimizing resource utilization, and embracing innovative solutions like energy harvesting, vendors like Ceragon are helping to deliver the networks of tomorrow built on the promise of a win-win scenario for ISPs, CSPs, and private network operators.
It's a testament to the power of sustainability—transforming networks to be eco-friendly, cost-effective, and better for the planet. As businesses and technology continue to evolve, one thing remains clear: when sustainability pays, everyone benefits.
Interested in learning more about sustainable solutions that save big? Check out our Advanced Space Diversity White Paper
