Softbank Mobile Corp. drives environmental and operational efficiency with Flexi Base Station solution

Softbank Mobile in Japan achieves 60 percent reduction in power consumption and 40 percent savings in site rentals with Flexi Base Station solution while fulfilling its corporate social responsibility.

 

"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. With this as our mutual interest, Softbank Mobile wishes to continue to work further with Nokia Siemens Networks."


Mr. Junichi Miyakawa, EVP, Director & CTO, Softbank Mobile Corp.

According to Mobikyo/Wireless Watch Japan, 40 percent of mobile data revenues globally are generated in Japan with three quarters of the population using mobile Internet, and four out ot five users utilize 3G services. Against this backdrop, it is no wonder that Japan has one of the highest numbers of high capacity base station sites in the world to cater to Japanese citizens who demand nothing less than high-speed mobile connections.

Since its full-fledged start of service in October 2006, Softbank Mobile Corp. has been expanding its market share rapidly. It needed to increase its network capacity to meet the spike in traffic demand. At the same time, the telecom operator also considered it critical to reduce carbon emission in its bid to be a sustainable and environmentally conscious organization.

Softbank Mobile turned to Nokia Siemens Networks to help it achieve its goal of lowering power consumption as well as to stay green whilst remaining nimble with its operating costs. In Japan, the telco operates 50,000 base stations.

Adopting new technologies without replacing existing hardware
In order for mobile consumers to stay connected 24/7, it became necessary for distances between base stations to stay very short.

Challenges

  • Rapid expansion of Softbank Mobile Corp.’s subscriber base
  • Serve the world’s most demanding market of high-speed connections and data services
  • High capital expenditure (CAPEX) and rental costs of base stations in landscarce Japan
  • Stay environmentally friendly while reducing operating expenditures (OPEX) of base stations
  • Increasingly complex technology requires high investment in staff competence development

Softbank Mobile therefore wanted to deploy its base stations in an operationally economic yet responsible manner. More importantly, it wanted to be able to adopt new technologies as well as next generation networks without replacing existing hardware unnecessarily.

The fast roll-out was also helped because our equipment has already been tested and integrated with the Cisco routers used in the network. In other words, our Mobile Site Connectivity solution is an end-to-end solution.

Up to 40% in site rental savings with small size and reduced power consumption
The mobile operator decided to deploy Nokia Siemens Networks’ Flexi BTS as it offered a number of unique benefits.

Solution

  • Increase network capacity with energy-efficient and compact Flexi Base Station solution
  • Optimize base stations’ energy efficiency using existing equipment’s software features
  • Identify the possibilities for long term competitiveness and to get prepared for new multimedia by increasing data transfer speed with HSDPA and Long Term Evolution

Softbank was attracted partly by the low initial capital site investment needed with the Flexi BTS, saving on average 15 percent compared to conventional sites, as well as the ability to accommodate high traffic simply via a software migration, rather than through the installation of more base stations.

“Nokia Siemens Networks provided Softbank Mobile with a hassle-free upgrade path to new technologies via a simple software change,” said Mr. Junichi Miyakawa, EVP, Director & CTO, Softbank Mobile Corp.

“We were also very interested in the reduction of other operational costs such as deployment and land space.”

Benefits

  • Enabled Softbank to meet the rapid growth in subscriber numbers
  • Optimized energy efficiency of the base stations’ reduces CAPEX by up to 15%
  • 40% savings in site rental costs because of compact size of base stations
  • Reduction in carbon emissions due to 60% less power consumption
  • Skilled staff in HSDPA, LTE and service monitoring without high investment

Previously, building a base station meant hiring a crane for a day on top of paying for manpower costs. The portable size and modular design of the Flexi BTS meant that construction of a base station is now very much easier as compared to building one in the past. Because of its compact size, the telecom operator is now able to easily send one person to hand-carry the Flexi BTS up the tower, cutting down on the costs of hiring cranes. An additional green benefit of this is that it reduces gas and carbon emissions required for a day of crane operation, paving the way further for the operator to be a socially responsible corporate citizen.

The portability of the Flexi BTS also means that Softbank Mobile can deploy the base station anywhere in densely-populated Japan, where land space is at a premium. This has resulted in easier negotiations with various land owners, enabling the operator to save up to 40% savings on site rental costs. Power consumption has also been drastically reduced by about 60%, resulting in another significant cost saving for Softbank Mobile.

Reducing carbon emissions to zero with new ways of communication
“By developing sophisticated ways of communication, business trips can be substituted with telephone and video conference calls,” said Mr. Miyakawa.

“This not only cuts down on operating and capital expenditure (CAPEX and OPEX) in the long run, it will also help companies play their parts in sustaining the environment by eliminating carbon emission caused by car rides to the airport and airplanes to other countries, for example.”

Softbank Mobile’s prime target is to reduce its carbon emissions to zero in the future, laying the foundation of advancing the telecommunication industry’s role as a whole in maintaining Earth’s ecology, and in turn, the industry’s relationship with society at large.

Mr. Miyakawa added he has so far been very happy with the partnership Softbank Mobile has with Nokia Siemens Networks.

Expounding on this, Mr. Yasushi Ozu, Head of Japan sub region, Nokia Siemens Networks, said, “Japan is the most innovative and technologically advanced market in the world. Solutions that are of high quality and can support high data traffic are the mandatory requirements for this market. We are happy to be able to partner with Softbank Mobile to help them achieve their goals of being a green company and at the same time, offer the best mobile services competitively to their subscribers with Nokia Siemens Networks’ cost-efficient and environmentally friendly Flexi BTS.”