A European Union (EU)-funded project to cut the energy usage of mobile base stations has been recognized with a Future Internet Award prize for its efforts on 4G kit.
The EU claims the Earth project scheme will cut the energy consumed by LTE base stations in half, in turn stemming growth in carbon emissions that, if left unchecked, would equal that of Luxembourg by 2020. Researchers from Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Telecom Italia, DoCoMo and assorted European universities have contributed to the research, which has focused on optimizing energy usage in 4G base stations.
“The ICT sector is growing, but its carbon footprint should not follow,” Neelie Kroes, digital agenda commissioner at the European Commission states, adding. “I congratulate the partners of the Earth project who have found ways to deliver the services we need while reducing CO2 emissions and cutting down on energy bills.”
Funding for the project was mostly supplied by the EU - €10 million of a total of €15 million – and the first equipment based on its work is set to be available in 2014.