Telenor will install solar power supplies worth $30 million

Telenor has awarded ‘Reon Energy Solutions’ a $30 Million contract to install solar-run power supplies at 5000 cellular sites in Pakistan and Bangladesh over the span of 3 years. The company is roughly looking at 2800 sites to be upgraded in Pakistan, and 2200 sites for Grameenphone in Bangladesh.

Inamur Rahman, CEO of Reon Energy Solutions told Daily Times that the company will take 3 years to install solar-based power systems at the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) points helping Telenor reduce operating costs in the future.The BTS towers would not be entirely reliant on electricity produced from solar energy. Alternative energy sources from other utilities will also help in electricity production. However, solar energy will help reduce the dependency of carriers on conventional electricity sources that aren’t much reliable.

Power distribution companies will deploy solar-powered BTS towers with storage systems in areas lacking connectivity. This will help reach a previously unreachable audience and provide cell phone coverage to more areas within Pakistan.

Rahman further added, “The trend of utilising renewable source of energy through the cellular phone sector has been a long suggested solution by the telecom sector experts and policymakers, however, the technology was expensive few years ago, which is believed now a viable way for operators.”

More than 37,756 telco operator sites function in different parts covering 92% of land area in Pakistan. Telenor will be ale to get a financial edge over its competitors since solar energy can reduce operational costs as much as 25-30%.

Roen Energy Solutions is already working on solar-run sites for Telenor Pakistan in Chitral, Upper Dir, and Lower Dir. These projects were rewarded earlier by the Universal Service Fund.

Source: Daily Times