The GSMA and the private sector arm of the World Bank have launched a program to power off-grid wireless networks with renewable energy.
The program, named Green Power for Mobile, is targeted at parts of the developing world with limited and unreliable electric grids. Its overall goal is to make cost effective green energy a widely used power source for off-grid locations by 2012. The GSMA plans to work together with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) on the initiative.
"We have estimated that mobile operators across the developing world will incur a $14.6 billion diesel bill from powering off-grid base stations by 2012," said Rob Conway, CEO of GSMA, in a statement. "Working together with IFC, we hope to address this by helping mobile operators to expand network coverage into remote regions, deploy renewable energy base stations, reduce their energy costs and minimize impact on the environment."
The GSMA has targeted 118,000 off-grid renewable energy base stations by 2012, with the Green Power for Mobile effort acting as a catalyst for that goal.
Today's development follows close on the heels of GSMA's green manifesto, which was recently launched at the Mobile Asia Congress. The manifesto included a call for the mobile industry to cut emissions 40 percent by 2020 compared to 2009 levels. The forecast covers all emissions from energy sources under the control of the mobile operators, including energy consumption from the radio network, buildings and energy consumption and emissions from transport.
ABI Research predicts that operators will have deployed 137,000 off-grid renewable energy base stations by 2013, coming in slightly above GSMA's goal. The research firm says the market is larger for on-grid base stations that are supplemented with solar or wind power, forecasting more than 200,000 of those by 2013.
"The GSMA-IFC announcement will be welcomed by many developing market operators that are burning cash in diesel generation and need expert guidance in this area," says Aditya Kaul, who leads ABI Research's Clean Telecom's research practice. "I would expect that with the additional financing and hand-holding there is the potential for a larger market for off-grid green base stations."