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3 February 2023
Submission to Department of Climate Change, Energy, the
Environment and Water
National Energy Performance
Strategy: consultation paper
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Via email: EnergyPerformance@dcceew.gov.au
3 February 2023
Dear Sir/Madam
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission in response to the National Energy Performance Strategy consultation paper.
If you have any queries or comments in relation to the content of our submission, please contact Maggie
Kaczmarska, Policy and Government Relations Manager.
About AMTA
The AMTA is the peak industry body of Australia’s mobile telecommunications industry. Our purpose is to be the trusted voice of industry, promoting the adoption, monetisation and sustainability of mobile telecommunications technology for the benefit of all Australians.
AMTA members include the mobile network service providers, handset manufacturers, network equipment suppliers and other suppliers to the industry.
Energy efficiency of 5G and 5G enablement
5G is the 5th generation of mobile networks, a significant evolution from 4G networks. 5G is up to 100 times faster than 4G and is designed to meet the large growth in data and connectivity of a range of technologies (e.g. Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality). 5G operates in conjunction with existing 4G networks but is now evolving to full stand-alone networks.
While the benefits of 5G are numerous, such as faster speeds, better reliability and improved capacity, it is also significantly more energy efficient than its predecessors. Research undertaken by Ericsson, Nokia and Telefónica has shown that 5G technology is up to 90% more efficient than 4G in terms of energy consumption per unit of traffic.1
Although 5G’s increased bandwidth and speed is likely to increase the number of devices connected and using the network, the energy efficiency of 5G technology and 5G technology itself aims to minimise overall energy consumption. For example, 5G base stations will only need as much power as required as
5G wireless cells can automatically shut down when there is no data traffic. Previous generations of mobile networks were always ‘on’. This reduces the energy consumption of base stations.
1
https://www.ericsson.com/en/blog/3/2021/1/achieving-sustainability-with-energy-efficiency-in-5g-networks https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2020/12/02/nokia-confirms-5g-as-90-percent-more-energy- efficient/
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association | amta.org.au 2
5G also enables other industries to become more energy efficient. Connecting numerous devices allows businesses to monitor and manage emissions to optimise their operations in a way that can minimise their energy consumption. Some international examples where this is occurring include:
A Taiwanese financial institution implemented an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled solution to
optimise energy consumption in its branches. Since deployment, average electricity use of each
branch decreased between 5-15%.2
The Belgian North Sea wind farms have full mobile coverage. On any given day up to 150
employees have access to connectivity, which rises up to 600 employees when construction of a
new wind farm occurs. It also enables the turbines to collect and send data such as temperature,
vibration, humidity and current for machines to then model turbine performance and adjust
asset maintenance programs in real time.3
The GSMA and Carbon Trust have also considered the enabling role mobile telecommunications can have in reducing carbon emissions through the use of, for example, smart grids in the energy sector to utilise mobile communications technology to monitor and regulate electricity demand and transmission.4 Also, as mentioned above, sensors in wind turbine vanes can control their pitch, rotation and function in real time responding to changes in wind conditions.5 Endeavor Energy, as another example, has used 5G drones to improve power restoration times for homes and businesses in Western Sydney after unplanned outages.6 TPG and Nokia have also partnered up to develop mobile private network innovations for the mining and energy sectors.7 In transportation using on-board cellular telematics can improve the fuel efficiency of cargo ships by enabling a more optimised arrival/departure model from ports.8
Overall mobile and digital technologies will play a vital part in progressing the decarbonisation of various industries such as manufacturing, utilities and transportation. It is expected that annual global CO2 savings from a global shift to smart manufacturing could result in CO2 emissions reductions of 1.4 Gt over
10 years to 2030. This is approximately 16% of CO2 reductions for the total sector over this period.9
These efficiencies are identified because mobile telecommunications networks enable a feedback loop to be created between devices and the physical world and, therefore, use less resources.
As the Department of Communications and the Arts noted in October 2017:
5G is also expected to assist the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) by further reducing power
consumption through extended discontinuous reception. In this scenario, IoT devices shift
between active and inactive cycles, transmitting only when required. This will allow connected
devices to operate for extended periods on a single charge, reducing operational costs.10
2
Andy Purdy, 10/11/2020, ‘The Biggest 5G Benefit Most People Don’t Know About’, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/11/10/the-biggest-5g-benefit-most-people-dont- know-about/?sh=3ed1c4d66ca2
3
https://www.power-technology.com/sponsored/keeping-belgian-north-sea-wind-farms-connected/
4
GSMA, ‘The Enablement Effect’ https://www.gsma.com/betterfuture/enablement-effect
5
https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/energy/smart-grid.html
6
https://www.endeavourenergy.com.au/news/media-releases/project-endeavour-takes-off-with-first-5g- flight-demonstration
7
Australian Mining, ‘TPG and Nokia create private network for mines’, Feb 10 2022, https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/tpg-telecom-and-nokia-to-create-private-network-for-mines/
8
GSMA, ‘Industry pathways to net zero: Mobile and digital technology in support of industry decarbonisation’
(2021)
9
GSMA, ‘Industry pathways to net zero: Mobile and digital technology in support of industry decarbonisation’
(2021) https://data.gsmaintelligence.com/research/research/research-2021/industry-pathways-to-net-zero- mobile-and-digital-technology-in-support-of-industry-decarbonisation
10
Australian Government, ‘5G – Enabling the future economy’, October 2017 https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/5g-enabling-the-future-economy.pdf
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association | amta.org.au 3
Mobile telecommunications network and energy efficiency
As the consultation paper notes, improving energy performance is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce emissions. For Australian mobile telecommunications carriers, electricity consumption accounts for a large proportion of their overall total greenhouse gas emissions. Given some Australian mobile telecommunications providers have become, or made the commitment to become, carbon neutral, the industry continues to make changes to the network to make it more energy efficient.
For example, Optus and Ericsson have deployed a radio access network (RAN) in Sydney that leverages lightweight, new generation radios and basebands which reduce the consumption of energy. Optus plans to upgrade further sites in their network, expecting a saving of about 40kWh per day when used in combination with software features.11
As another example, TPG Telecom has optimised its air conditioning needs in mobile base stations by implementing free cooling measures that improve air circulation using low powered fans. This has been shown to reduce daily air conditioning use at a base station in NSW by up to 90%.12 TPG
Telecom has also made a commitment to power its entire Australian operations with renewable electricity by 2025.13
Telstra has also been investing in energy reduction projects, including both energy efficiency and decommissioning less energy efficient equipment. In FY22, Telstra’s energy efficiency programs delivered a collective saving of 13,494 tCO2e and more than 15,702 MWh of electricity per annum and their decommissioning network equipment projects delivered a further 46,085 tCO2e and 52,935 MWh.14
Overall, both internationally and domestically mobile telecommunications stakeholders are fully aware of the need for communications to be energy efficient. 3GPP provides standards for telecommunications technologies and part of its work includes considering energy efficiency and energy savings of mobile networks, such as defining energy efficiency performance indicators for 5G core network and network slices.15 The emphasis on energy efficiency will likely continue for the next generation of mobile connectivity – 6G.
11
https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2022/12/optus-and-ericsson-unveil- australias-latest-energy-efficient-radio-access-network-site
12
https://www.tpgtelecom.com.au/sustainability/environment
13 https://www.tpgtelecom.com.au/sustainability/environment#:~:text=TPG%20Telecom%20will%20power%20it s,office%20buildings%20and%20retail%20network.
14
Telstra 2022 Sustainability Report. p.74. https://exchange.telstra.com.au/wp- content/uploads/2022/08/Telstra-Bigger-Picture-2022-Sustainability-Report.pdf
15
https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/energy-efficiency-ee-sa5-work-and-results
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association | amta.org.au 4
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association | amta.org.au 5
