Cow dung powered mobile networks

Ericsson and Idea Cellular with the help of GSM Association (GSMA) are rolling out mobile towers powered by bio-fuels. The towers are expected to bring down opex significantly and may bring down cost of calls in rural areas.

According to Lehman Brothers, about $5,600 is spent on a tower as opex each year by an operator with no sharing. Besides cutting down on fuel costs needed to power towers, biofuels can also help bring down cost of sharing amongst operators. In a pilot project in Pune, the three organisations (Ericsson, Idea Cellular and GSMA) will begin using biofuels to power mobile base stations, which are beyond the reach of the electricity grid.

Source: The ET