By Ron Chen, ASEAN Region and Oystein Bergmann, Scandinavia

Singtel has announced the deployment of Singapore’s most energy efficient radio cell, the Ericsson AIR 3268, to its 5G network.

This is part of Singtel’s ongoing sustainability and decarbonisation measures towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and paves the way for more such radio cells to be deployed across the country to augment its nationwide 5G coverage.

The AIR 3268 radio is expected to save up to 18 per cent more energy and weighs about 40 per cent less than earlier generations of 5G radios. At just 12kg, its proportions simplify upgrades and make new site acquisitions and installations easy on towers, rooftops, poles and walls – even in challenging locations. It also makes a 5G site 76 per cent lighter than a 4G site that typically requires multiple radios, while providing the same network capacity. This further reduces Singtel’s overall 5G network energy consumption that is already up to 58 per cent lower than 4G today.

The AIR 3268 is designed to provide real-time channel estimation and ultra-precise beamforming – or elimination of undesirable noise interferences – to accelerate 5G mid-band spectrum deployment, and boost capacity, coverage and connectivity speeds, thus enhancing mobile experiences for customers.

Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Singapore, Singtel, Ms Anna Yip said, “We are always looking for ways to deliver Singapore’s greenest 5G network while further reducing our carbon footprint. By integrating energy-efficient technologies into our operations and infrastructure, we aim to build a better, more sustainable future, as we continue to deliver the best network performance and user experience to consumers and enterprises through our 5G solutions and services. With an optimised network, even end-users will be able to conserve energy on their mobile devices, making them part of the movement of building a better future together.”

Head of Ericsson Singapore and Philippines, Martin Wiktorin said, “Sustainability and energy efficiency are a priority for us at Ericsson. Deploying our energy-efficient AIR 3268 radio as part of Singtel’s 5G network is a significant step in our larger sustainability plan, which is focused on breaking the energy curve by activating energy-saving software, building 5G with precision and operating the site infrastructure intelligently. This will serve to manage mobile traffic growth while reducing energy consumption.”

Deployment simplicity and improved energy efficiency

Singtel 5G is a greener technology with higher data transfer rates compared to any previous wireless technology generation, working on a wide spectrum of 100MHz which provides cell capacity comparable to four Singtel 4G bands combined.

The deployment of the AIR 3268, the lightest and smallest Massive MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) in the industry, is another step in Singtel’s energy-saving improvements as it explores smart and sustainable mobile technologies that optimise power and energy utilisation in its operations.