Are green cellular base stations sustainable?

This study presents an overview of sustainable and green cellular base stations (BSs), which account for most of the energy consumed in cellular networks. We review the architecture of the BS and the power consumption model, and then summarize the trends in green cellular network research over the past decade.

What is green or energy efficient communications?

Green or energy efficient communications is the means to reduce the cost of telecommunication services, whilst introducing social responsibility, helping network operators to be environmentally friendly.

What is a green communication initiative?

The green communication initiative primarily aims to improve the energy efficiency, reduce the OPEX, and eliminate the GHG emissions of BSs to guarantee their future evolution [ 2, 3 ]. Cellular network operators attempt to shift toward green practices using two main approaches.

How do cellular network operators shift to green practices?

Cellular network operators attempt to shift toward green practices using two main approaches. The first approach uses energy-efficient hardware to reduce the energy consumption of BSs at the equipment level and adopts economic power sources to feed these stations.

What is a green cellular network?

Most studies on green cellular networks have adopted ideal models. As its name implies, the green communication initiative aims to make cellular networks “greener” by reducing their power consumption using the aforementioned approaches.

Are cellular network operators moving towards green cellular BS?

Figure 10 reveals that many cellular network operators in the world have still not shifted toward green cellular BS. Most of these operators are located in developing countries with limited electricity supply and unreliable electric grids. The financial issues in these countries must be investigated further. 4.5.