The power consumption of millions of mobile phone base stations that work 24 hours a day has prompted equipment manufacturers, including China’s Huawei, to develop systems that automatically adjust activity based on 5G network traffic.
Huawei addresses this challenge in “Signals of Change,” a four-part documentary series released this week reviewing the evolution of its wireless communications technologies since the early 2000s.
Among the innovations featured is “0 Bit 0 Watt,” a solution that puts selected network equipment into deep sleep modes during low-demand periods and wakes it up as traffic rebounds.
Energy costs
Data from GSMA, the global mobile phone industry association, shows the radio access network—which includes base stations and connects user devices to the mobile network—accounts for roughly 73% of the power mobile operators consume.
In China, telecom carriers consumed about 120 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, representing approximately 1.2% of regional usage. That was a 30% jump since 2019, when 5G base stations surged thirtyfold, according to the group.
Carrier China Mobile said in its 2023 sustainability report that base stations made up roughly 58% of its total electricity use.
During off-peak hours, manufacturers and operators rely on mechanisms that temporarily throttle or suspend parts of the equipment’s activity, reactivating them when traffic picks up again.
Although sleep modes do not eliminate network power draw entirely, they can significantly lower it during lighter traffic windows.
A study by researchers from Aalborg University, Orange Labs, and Nokia Siemens Networks estimated that these techniques could trim daily network energy consumption by about 30% while preserving preset service levels.
Staying connected
The documentary also examines other hurdles tied to the evolution of mobile networks, such as maintaining a reliable connection when users travel at high speeds.
High-speed rail travel, for instance, creates additional difficulties because of fast movement, signal attenuation through train carriage structures, and frequent handoffs between cell towers. These issues have pushed carriers worldwide to overhaul network layouts and operations.
The series includes an interview with Fergal Kelly, former chief technology officer for Vodafone in Spain and the United Kingdom, who recalled early struggles to maintain cell service on high-speed trains.
“The train picked up speed, and calls dropped,” he said, adding that the operator where he worked had spent more than a year trying to fix the problem.
Huawei, which has partnered with EFE to distribute this content, frames reduced power consumption and stronger connectivity as key milestones in modern networks, which have vastly increased coverage, speed, and capacity in recent decades. EFE