India has been a pioneer in the telecom infrastructure sharing space. The sharing of 400,000 towers by operators has made mobile telephony services affordable and available across the country. However, due to the non-availability of reliable grid power, telecom towers have to depend on diesel generators, not just as a backup option but often as the primary energy source.

The telecom sector uses around 2 billion litres of diesel in a year, accounting for about 2 per cent of the country’s total diesel consumption. About 70 per cent of the telecom towers are diesel operated. However, given the high costs involved in purchasing, transferring and storing diesel, telecom tower companies as well operators are looking to reduce diesel use. Moreover, there are issues related to diesel pilferage and the fuel leaves a large carbon footprint. Deregulation of diesel prices has also added to the industry’s woes as energy costs are expected to increase further.

While the country’s urban teledensity is above 140 per cent, the rural teledensity remains below 40 per cent. This disparity between in coverage can be partially attributed to the unreliability of grid power in rural areas. About 80 per cent of telecom towers are connected to the grid but electricity is available for only a few hours, thereby forcing tower operators to use diesel generators in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply. According to a GSMA report, over 40 per cent of sites with unreliable grid connectivity do not have power for more than 16 hours per day.

With the non-availability of reliable grid power in semi-urban areas, almost negligible grid power in rural areas and increasing diesel usage, renewable energy is likely to play a key role in addressing the energy woes of tower operators. Though the telecom industry has adopted a green approach, sourcing energy from renewable sources has to make commercial sense.

There is a visible policy push to move the industry towards renewable energy sources. In January 2012, the Department of Telecommunications issued a directive to service providers to frame a carbon credit policy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. According to the directive, at least 50 per cent of the towers in rural areas and 20 per cent of urban towers are to be energised by hybrid power (renewable and grid connected) by 2015. This share should increase to 75 per cent for rural towers and 33 per cent for urban towers by 2020. Both telecom operators and tower companies believe that these targets need to be revised. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), 20 GW of solar capacity is likely to be set up by 2022, a percentage of which will be installed in the telecom infrastructure segment. The JNNSM is one of the several missions aimed at achieving the National Action Plan for Climate Change’s target of 15 per cent of power generation from renewable sources by 2020. Policy support is required to meet these objectives. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) suggests building grid-interactive mini power plants that are funded through the National Clean Energy Fund. In addition, CSE recommends the provision of low-interest loans to manufacturing companies and a mandate for domestic equipment procurement. Besides policy support, technology development and declining costs of solar panels will drive the adoption of green energy in the telecom industry.

Rural India has significant potential for sustainable and economic energy management. There is a need to explore ways in which tower companies and green solution providers can collaborate to experiment with various models for making renewable energy a practical solution for tower operations.

Technological solutions can also be implemented to reduce power use. New base stations, especially efficient outdoor stations with lower power requirements and optimal capacity are being deployed to check consumption. Multi-sector site solutions are also capable of tapping the full potential offered by existing sites with the highest capacity, the lowest power consumption and a compact form factor. Such technological advancements are making single cell sites more economical for tower companies.