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PrintBase stations run on Ethiopian sun
Solar-powered base station sites are helping to bring communications to Ethiopia's rural population. With low maintenance costs, solar power is also helping to lower the total cost of ownership of the network.
In new growth markets like Ethiopia, where the network is expanding into rural areas, a power grid is not always readily available and equipment sites need to run autonomously. A sustainable alternative to diesel generators is to use renewable energy sources such as solar power. To build solar-powered autonomous sites, the Ethiopia Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) turned to Nokia Siemens Networks for consulting, planning and project management.
The GSM and GPRS mobile networks with fiber optic backbone supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks required approximately 300 sites in the northern and central parts of the country. Half of these sites are located in hard-to-access rural areas which have no electrical supply.
Being near the equator, Ethiopia is one of the sunniest countries in the world, making solar power viable for base station and transmission node sites. Nokia Siemens Networks planned and built more than 50 solar-powered autonomous sites which include battery banks that assure power for at least three days during cloudy or rainy weather.
"There are two reasons for using solar power: one is economical, the other is environmental. Using diesel generators would have been very expensive, especially the maintenance and handling costs. Although the initial cost of solar power is rather high, in the long term its use is very inexpensive and rewarding. After installing the solar-power system, the only thing we've had to do is keep the panels clean. Other than that, they will not cost us a thing and will serve us for many years to come," says Ato AmareAmsalu, CEO of ETC.
A partnership that pays off
Nokia Siemens Networks' success in Ethiopia is based on a dedicated workforce of nearly 40 qualified professionals including project management, technical experts and support staff who help the company offer value-added professional services to its customers.
"Everybody is satisfied with the overall performance of the Nokia Siemens Networks project management. The roll-out was completed within the specified contractual period. We haven't experienced any problems on the sites built by Nokia Siemens Networks. They are all working properly, and we assume they will continue to do so in the future," Ato Amare Amsalu says.