Carbon neutrality has long been a priority for telcos, and despite the surge in AI innovation sweeping through the mobile industry, sustainability remains firmly on the agenda.
Sustainability is no longer just a responsibility operators uphold to maintain their brand image with an increasingly environmentally conscious public. It also delivers long-term benefits, including reduced operating costs, enhanced service consistency, and new revenue opportunities.
Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Li Shaolong (pictured, second), President of Huawei Site Power Facility Domain, noted that telecom operators have traditionally focused on three key performance indicators for mobile sites: efficiency, capacity, and reliability.
However, as operators transition from telcos to so-called "tech cos"—modern, technology-driven telecom companies with a strong focus on digital transformation and customer experience—these KPIs no longer fully meet their needs.
“As operators develop new use cases and expand their business portfolios, their expectations of mobile sites evolve,” Li explained. “That is why Huawei introduced AI to innovate our site energy solutions. For example, site energy solutions today can exchange information with the power grid, enabling telecom operators to participate in the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) business.”
Mobile sites can contribute to the national grid by adjusting their energy usage based on demand, acting as distributed energy sources within a VPP network. In essence, operators can sell excess battery capacity and generate additional revenue, Li said.
Huawei collaborated with a Finnish telco operator to develop a solution allowing operators to engage in the VPP business. With this innovation, cell sites can transform from cost centres into profit centres, all powered by AI.
“Huawei enhances the power source, battery, cabinet, and cooling equipment within a telecom site with intelligent features. These innovations improve site efficiency and resilience, reduce costs, and better position telecom operators to meet diverse business needs,” Li added.
The Mobile AI era
Artificial intelligence is becoming central to consumer technology, embedded in smartphones and set to expand into autonomous cars, AI glasses, and robots over the next two years. These advancements will require greater connectivity and, in turn, improve site resiliency requirements from operators, Li predicted.
To strengthen its position in the mobile AI era, Huawei unveiled its Single SitePower Solution a next generation intelligent architecture that optimises power management for sites. Through integration of AI, and renewable energy, it enables operators to produce, store and manage energy to reduce reliance on national grids and costs.
“AI will enhance site performance, making sites digital and intelligent. As a result, overall performance resiliency and efficiency will improve, allowing telecom sites to better support diverse service needs,” said Fred Wang (pictured, first), Huawei’s VP of SRAN and Site Domain.
Zain Group’s Climate Change Senior Manager, Ali AlGharabally (pictured, middle), acknowledged that resilience and reliability of site energy is rising up agendas as operators diversify their businesses.
“Most of our sites are in harsh environments, located in deserts and running on diesel. This results in a significant need for energy to cool these sites, especially as demand for connectivity surges with the rise of 5G-A.”
Zain Group set ambitious sustainability goals in 2020, aiming to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 42% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050—a target AlGharabally admitted is “tough.” In February, Zain announced its carbon neutrality target had been officially approved by climate action organisation, the Science Based Targets Initiative.
Energy consumption for Zain Group has increased by 40% over the past five years due to 5G deployment, AlGharabally noted. Addressing this challenge will require upgrading sites with new solutions.
AI-driven software and hardware are playing a crucial role in this transformation. “In the past, power supply and battery systems at telecom sites were ‘dumb’ devices,” Li said. “Now, all components must be digital and intelligent.”
Huawei has partnered with Chinese operators to develop smart battery and power supply solutions that are future-proof, eliminating the need for mains or cable upgrades. Additionally, Huawei’s solutions feature anti-theft mechanisms to prevent revenue loss—an essential requirement for operators with sites in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Wang added: “By digitalising power supply systems—including distribution parameters, battery health, and load information—we enable predictive analysis and full system digitisation to improve site resilience and network availability.”
“Our Single SitePower solution also introduces a unified management system (MMS) for both wireless equipment and site energy. Previously, these elements required separate maintenance teams. Now, one MMS is sufficient for their management, improving O&M efficiency and enabling faster fault identification.”
Wang also revealed that Huawei will roll out an adaptive power backup feature that increases power duration at Zain Group’s mobile sites.
This new Huawei solution will strengthen Zain Group’s mobile sites, helping reduce operating expenditure while maintaining the high service quality that subscribers expect, AlGharabally noted.
Huawei PanGu integration
Huawei’s product development strategy will continue to focus on AI, ensuring all components and software are intelligent, Li said. This approach drives efficiency, resilience and reduces operators' operating expenses.
Cost savings and operational efficiency are key concerns for operators worldwide, as revenues remain flat.
Looking ahead, Huawei is exploring the integration of Huawei PanGu model into its site power infrastructure management system, Huawei NetEco. Li believes this will further enhance the efficiency of mobile site operations and management.
Huawei is also developing an upgraded version of its VPP solution, dubbed VPP 2.0, with deeper power grid integration for increased efficiency. Meanwhile, its solar access product, PV, is set to incorporate weather forecasting capabilities, allowing operators to predict daily electricity yields and further reduce the total cost of ownership for mobile sites.
Another AI-driven development involves making devices, including smartphones, voice-controlled—a trend gaining momentum among smartphone vendors. Wang revealed that Huawei’s AI feature, FME Mate, will extend this capability to mobile sites, enabling fluid voice interaction between people and machines.
“FME Mate can identify faults in advance and conduct precise fault demarcation, leading to higher operational efficiency,” Wang said.
Other upcoming innovations include more sustainable power supply units, upgraded lithium batteries, and improved resilience.
AlGharabally emphasised the importance of AI in energy supply: “Moving forward, introducing AI to energy supply is essential for sustaining our network operations while working towards our emissions reduction goals.”
Zain Group has already deployed Huawei hybrid solar solutions across 1,800 sites, cutting carbon emissions by 150,000 tons annually.
However, AlGharabally noted that sustainability is still a relatively new concept in the Middle East, making it challenging to convince regulators to cut red tape and facilitate sustainable projects such as solar farms.
In some markets, Zain must inject energy produced by its solar farms and mobile sites into the national grid before reclaiming it—an added layer of complexity in operations. AlGharabally attributes this to a general lack of education on sustainability in the region.
Climate change is already impacting the MENA region, with rising temperatures increasing the frequency of droughts and floods.
For Huawei, this presents an opportunity. Wang and Li pointed out that most operators worldwide have yet to adopt intelligent, future-proof solutions like Zain Group.
