Mobile technology giant Nokia Siemens Networks yesterday unveiled a range of base station systems that it claims will cut the energy use of mobile telecommunications networks by up to 70 per cent.

Ari Lehtoranta, head of the radio access business unit at Nokia Siemens Networks, said that the new solution would bring together Nokia Siemens' technologies and techniques to "reduce adverse environmental impact while also generating considerable cost savings for our operator customers".

The energy efficiency savings centre on four main innovations: new network planning capabilities for optimising the layout of base stations and reducing the number required; new base station designs that allow them to be located in previously rejected locations; new technologies that can run at an ambient temperature of up to 40 degrees centigrade, limiting the need for air conditioning; and new software capable of shutting down unused systems within a base station, subject to demand.

The company said that the combination of these technologies meant that in a network with approximately 5,000 base stations, serving a large metropolitan area, the annual energy saving would be the equivalent of 73,000 tons of CO2 emissions or the emissions generated annually by 21,000 cars.

It added that typical energy consumption levels for GSM stations would reach just 800W and WCDMA stations would draw around 500W – a performance it claimed was a quarter better than the next best system available.

A spokeswoman for the company said that it expected strong customer demand for the new base stations. "Firms are under more environmental pressure, but these systems also reduce the energy bill and the amount of equipment you need to buy, so it is very cost efficient as well," she explained.

The company also committed to improving efficiency further, vowing to reduce the energy consumption of its GSM and WCDMA base stations to 650W and 300W respectively by 2010.

The Nokia Siemens spokeswoman said that the energy goals were part of the R &D team's targets, adding that they were currently investigating ways to improve radio frequency efficiency to cut energy use and reduce the size of bases stations so that they can be placed in more flexible locations, bringing down the overall number of stations needed in a network.

Speaking at an event in Beijing to announce a deal with China Mobile Group Beijing for new wireless network systems, Nokia Siemens Networks chief executive Simon Beresford-Wylie said that the new systems were a critical component of the company’s drive to ensure telecommunications technology delivers a "net positive impact" by limiting travel and optimising business processes.

“As the next two billion people gain access to the benefits of connectivity, the positive impact will be enormous," Beresford-Wylie said. "[But] at the same time, we know that with this huge growth Nokia Siemens Networks must provide wireless and wireline connectivity that uses less and less energy, that has recyclable components and limited use of environmentally sensitive materials."