Reduce Energy Consumption
in Mobile Operator
Networks and Maximize
Service Quality
HCL Energy Savings Executive Summary
Challenge:
Energy costs in mobile networks are high, often consuming 70-85% of
energy for a telecom operator.
Requirement:
Save energy while maintaining current service quality of experience.
Solution:
Stand-alone HCL IDES that can be deployed at any operator to provide an
energy savings platform.
How it works:
Uses artificial intelligence (AI) for prediction and modeling per node to
reduce energy consumption.
Results:
$2 million annual savings
Energy savings per node per day = 3.5kWh (Kilowatthour)*
Energy savings on 10 thousand nodes (0.19$/kWh) = $2 million dollar of
savings
276,000 Ton annual CO2 savings on 34,000 nodes
Annual Saving on
34K Nodes
(0.15$/KWh)
$5.3M
Annual Saving
Annual CO2
Energy
27.6K Saving on
savings per 3.5kWh ng 34K Nodes
Node per Day Ton
CO
vi
Sa
2
Sa
rgy
vin
Ene
* savings based on a typical network return
2
Mobile network operators (MNOs) face escalating power annually. This is equivalent to the average
customer demands and fierce competition as global energy consumed by almost two million households. It
mobile user data consumption surges. This network is estimated that each 10% reduction in total cell node
traffic growth changes traditional patterns. The result power results in enough electricity saved to power the
is that MNOs have more difficulty planning their equivalent of 195,000 households1.
network, which negatively affects their customer
Energy costs for MNOs around the world are already
quality of experience (QoE).
high, increasing by more than 40% in 2022. This adds
Mobile networks only need a handful of subscribers to the challenges MNOs must manage as they densify
using bandwidth-hungry services to push nodes into their networks to support 4G and 5G roll-outs. With
congestion mode. For MNOs to boost their capacity to the radio access network (RAN) estimated to consume
deliver exceptional subscriber experiences, they need 70-85% of energy for telecom operators,2 MNOs need
to be able to roll out new nodes that utilize more to reduce their network costs by focusing on
technology quickly. This adds complexity to network electricity use.
environments that are already challenged with
disparate systems. MNOs Must Balance Resource Usage
and Quality of Service
Disparate Components of MNO As MNOs drive their networks to deliver more
Environments bandwidth and services, they must balance resource
allocation with service quality—too much results in
Heterogeneous network of macro cells and cost surges, and too little results in a drop in service
small cells quality. The mobile RAN should adapt to the actual
demand for services. For instance, activate
New RAN architecture of disaggregated RAN, energy-consuming resources, specifically cells, when
such as vRAN, CRAN, and Open RAN needed and deactivate excess resources when the
service quality can be guaranteed without these.
Current technologies, including GSM, UMTS,
LTE, 4G and 5G
HCL Quality of Experience (QoE) and
Energy Savings Applications Built on
As MNOs craft their network strategies for the next five
years, they enter a new decision-making cycle. The HCL Augmented Network Automation
process is complex because it requires an array of (ANA) Platform
sophisticated technologies to transform the network
performance and efficiency. MNOs must evaluate each HCL allows MNOs to provide seamless, fast, and
technology’s role and its likely impact on their reliable 4G and 5G services, using AI to improve
businesses before placing it on their technology network performance in places with high traffic
roadmap. congestion, such as city centers and stadiums. The
HCL Energy Savings application also uses AI-based
networking automation capabilities to reduce the
Telecom Energy Costs Continue to operating costs of delivering 4G and 5G. By analyzing
Grow for MNOs traffic patterns, the HCL Energy Savings application
identifies where network infrastructure can be
Globally, mobile cell nodes require tremendous temporarily powered down during off-peak times, such
amounts of power. Cell nodes in the United States use as at night, without impacting the quality of
approximately 21 million megawatt hours (MWh) of experience for mobile subscribers.
1. https://jgoldassociates.com/news-lette/
US Cell Sites- a Sustainability Analysis
2. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-case-for-committing-to-greener-telecom-networks#/
McKinsey Telecommunication Insights
3
HCL Augmented
Network Automation
(ANA)
Built on Cisco SON, HCL’s ANA is a
next-generation SON platform
that enables MNOs to simplify
network management complexity
with a closed-loop network
automation environment that
supports multi-vendor,
multi-technology deployments.
The HCL ANA Platform collects
and processes vast amounts of
data in real-time from all network
domains (i.e., radio to transport to
core) to automatically predict,
configure, and optimize
multi-domain networks with
self-healing techniques.
The HCL Energy Savings applications are built on HCL’s ANA Platform, developed by their Industry Software
Division. The HCL ANA Platform is HCL’s next-generation network optimization solution. It enables mobile
operators to manage their 5G and 4G services globally by automating multi-vendor and multi-technology
deployments in cloud or on-premises environments.
HCL Augmented Network Automation (ANA) Platform in Action
Customer: Tier 1 telecom provider in North America
Challenge: to enhance customer experience and network coverage with fast implementation of
automated optimization at a low cost
Solution: HCL Augmented Network Automation (ANA) Platform modules
ROI:
Realized in 8 months
$4 million in annual revenues gained from reduced churn
$2 million annual cost savings from reduced engineering effort
HCL Intelligent Dynamic Energy For example, HCL IDES can power down cells during
periods of low traffic demand or increase capacity
Savings (IDES)3 during periods of high demand, allowing mobile
HCL IDES is a stand-alone HCL solution that can be networks to operate more efficiently and sustainably.
deployed within any MNO. It can enable energy savings
by using AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms to
HCL IDES rAPP.
optimize the energy consumption of mobile without
service degradation. HCL IDES works by continuously In HCL’s Augmented Network Automation (ANA), an
monitoring and collecting data on network traffic and rAPP is a component of the HCL IDES technology that
energy consumption and using this data to predict focuses on predicting and optimizing radio access
future traffic demand and energy availability. power usage in mobile networks. It is a proven and
tested solution that has been shown to provide
Based on these predictions, the HCL IDES algorithm
additional energy savings beyond the standard RAN
can dynamically adjust network capacity and usage.
vendor’s energy savings feature.
3. https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/energy-sustainability/13002-hcl-launches-qoe-and-energy-saving-5g-applications.html
https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/
4
The HCL IDES rAPP uses ML algorithms to analyze HCL IDES results have been impressive, exemplified by
network traffic patterns, predict future traffic demand, a specific cluster for a Tier 1 customer in Western
and optimize radio access power usage accordingly. Europe. Here, the application achieved an additional
This enables MNOs to adjust radio access power in real 7% energy savings, with an average daily savings of
time based on predicted traffic demand. 3.5kWh per node.
rApps HCL IDES Results
The Open RAN (ORAN) architecture introduces new $2 million annual savings
types of automation applications called rApps. An
rApp is designed to run on the non-real-time RIC to Energy savings per node per day = 3.5kWh
realize different RAN automation and management (savings based on a typical network return)
use cases, with control loops on a time scale of one Savings on 10 thousand nodes (0.19$/kWh) =
second and longer. $2 million dollar of savings
276,000 Ton annual CO2 savings on 34,000
nodes
HCL IDES Proven Energy Savings
Field-Results without Service HCL Software Proven Energy Savings
Degradation4 The HCL Software Energy Savings Dashboard allows
HCL IDES derives energy savings from the HCL MNOs to visualize how much energy they are saving (in
Augmented Network Automation (ANA) Platform, $USD) with the IDES app. The savings presented on this
where traffic analysis is done per cell based on the dashboard represent additional savings on top of the
algorithm and pattern learning to enable automated existing vendor’s energy-saving capabilities. The
adjustments. The delivered energy savings are up to dashboard allows the MNO to monitor the network
3.5kWh per hour, per node5, over the other vendors’ performance (through KPIs) while saving energy.
systems that apply power reduction across all cells at
the same level. HCL IDES helps MNOs achieve cost
savings and sustainability goals by using network
More Information
intelligence to reduce RAN power consumption in an For more information on the HCL IDES Product or other HCL
intelligent, targeted manner without compromising Software products and solutions, please visit
https://www.hclindustrysaas.com/telecom-5g/augmented-net
network performance or user experience. work-automation/ or contact your HCL Account Team.
The chart provides a comprehensive view of the IDES deployment status, and the information can be downloaded as a PDF. A report view for
the different time durations (e.g., per quarter or a custom period) is also available.
4. $ savings depends on network size (network size equates to number of sites, energy cost per provider), and energy rate.
5
About HCLSoftware
HCLSoftware develops, markets, sells, and supports product families in the areas of Digital Transformation, Data, Analytics & Insights,
AI & Automation and Enterprise Security platforms. HCLSoftware is the cloud-native solution factory for enterprise software and
powers millions of apps at more than 20,000 organizations, including more than half of the Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 companies.
HCLSoftware's mission is to drive ultimate customer success with its IT investments through relentless product innovation.
https://www.hcl-software.com
