Increased focus on network power consumption to lower opex, go green

Table of Contents

• Executive summary
• In a nutshell
• Ovum view
• Key messages
• Wide divergence of approaches with no clear industry standards and metrics
• Service providers generally not willing to trade off higher capex now for lower power-related opex later
• Macroeconomic meltdown has increased the market' s focus on reducing power consumption
• Industry focus on power reduction will increase over time
• Architectural change/network transformation is not being done explicitly to reduce power consumption
• There are benefits to power reduction beyond mere cost-reduction
• What' s the problem with network power? The impact of traffic growth on networks and network power
• Power can' t increase linearly with network traffic growth without massive negative consequences
• Within wireline networks, routers present the biggest challenge
• Ovum survey results: Power usage as a relative concern
• Service providers
• Summarized service provider survey responses
• Industry wide, power accounts for 2-3% of opex, and this is likely to rise
• The BT case: An aggressive approach to power reduction, in context
• Is power consumption rising, and what other concerns are similarly or more than power?
• The macroeconomic meltdown has not decreased focus on power issues
• Usage “hot spots” in the network and beyond
• Power usage inside the customer premise
• Business risks from not addressing power consumption
• Steps taken thus far to reduce power
• The looming problem of network scaling
• Operators remain reluctant to trade off increased capex now for decreased opex tomorrow
• Vendors
• Summarized network equipment vendor survey responses
• Importance of power relative to other things in product development, sales and marketing
• Impact of macroeconomic meltdown on level of concern
• Identifying power “hot spots” and developing reduction strategies at the network element (NE) level
• Measuring power consumption
• Identifying power “hot spots” and developing reduction strategies beyond the NE
• Comparing products will require more agreement on metrics and how to calculate them
• Optical networking products: Alcatel-Lucent as an example
• Service provider router trends using Juniper products as an example
• Optical and switch/router gear appear to be apples and oranges for now - very hard to compare directly
• Enterprise routing trends - Cisco EnergyWise
• Power-savvy element/network management systems
• New architectures
• IPoWDM
• All optical networking
• Ethernet switching vs. IP routing
• Flow routing
• Beyond the network: Other influences and considerations on the quest to reduce network power
• Wide range of telecoms applications for using the network (connectivity) to lower emissions
• Telecom' s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Regulatory issues
• Corporate citizenship and branding issues
• Power availability: A growing issue as wireless penetration has expanded
• Acknowledgements
• Authors' acknowledgements
• Appendix 1
• Service provider questionnaire summary responses
• Vendor questionnaire summary responses
• Appendix 2
• Mobile networks: base station power issues
• Using renewable energy - solar and wind - to power cell sites
• Creation of additional revenue streams by selling extra electricity capacity generated by the solar panels
• Main challenges of solar/wind-powered sites
• Initiatives from solar panel manufacturers to sell directly to operators
• Biofuel solutions for remote sites also being explored
• Fuel cell technology holds some promise even though in early stages

List of Tables

• Table 1: Projected power consumption of routers in Japan
• Table 2: Electricity spending trends at a selection of telcos
• Table 3: A selection of Alcatel-Lucent' s ON products and their stated power usage
• Table 4: Scoping the problem
• Table 5: Measuring and tracking
• Table 6: Power reduction strategy
• Table 7: Looking ahead
• Table 8: Mobile network impacts today
• Table 9: Scoping the problem and opportunity
• Table 10: Identifying power “hot spots” and developing reduction strategies at the network element (NE) level
• Table 11: Identifying power “hot spots” and developing reduction strategies beyond the network element (NE) level
• Table 12: Developing reduction strategies beyond the network
• Table 13: Commercial rollouts based on solar energy
• Table 14: Examples of operators' activities around fuel cells

List of Figures

• Figure 1: Service provider median responses (for those questions requiring a quantitative answer)
• Figure 2: ICT sector power usage by subsector in 2012, status-quo case
• Figure 3: Vendor median responses for those questions requiring a quantitative answer
• Figure 4: Energy efficiency ratio (EER)
• Figure 5: Trend of Juniper router EER
• Figure 6: Flow router overlay
• Figure 7: Biofuel generators in India