Softbank Mobile of Japan is raising its operational efficiency and cutting its carbon emissions by deploying Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi Base Stations.
As many as 75% of Japanese subscribers use mobile Internet, generating 40% of the world’s mobile data revenues. In order to keep up with demand from its 20 million customers, Japanese communications service provider (CSP) Softbank Mobile had to increase network capacity and pave the way for new technologies.
Not content with just offering an excellent service to its customers, the company has an ambitious environmental agenda, with the long-term goal of reducing carbon emissions to zero. This commitment extends into activities such as the Green Network System Technology Development, a research project that aims to reduce data center and network power consumption by 30%. Softbank Mobile is also a member of The Green Grid, an alliance of leading industry players working in unison to build new standards for efficient data center energy management.
A subscriber base of super-users
With four out of five subscribers using 3G, Japan has the highest density of base stations in the world. Softbank Mobile alone operates 50,000 base stations.
To further extend the capacity of its network, the company chose Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi BTS. The small footprint of the Flexi Base Stations resulted in a 40% saving on site rental costs. Furthermore, since one base station is light enough to be hand-carried to the tower, it can be installed without using a crane, which cuts costs further as well as keeping emissions to a minimum.
Cutting power consumption by 60%
Size and flexibility aside, the solution’s greatest long-term advantage is perhaps the significant reduction of energy costs. The Flexi BTS can accommodate the traffic generated by millions of mobile super-users, while, for Softbank Mobile, cutting power consumption by as much as 60%, which is a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions.
Junichi Miyakawa, EVP, Director & CTO, Softbank Mobile Corp explains: “We have built up this relationship of trust with Nokia Siemens Networks, and it is our goal to offer good services that are competitively priced. Going one step further, together, we could show the industry the future in three to five years’ time.”
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