BUCHAREST (Romania), April 5 (SeeNews) – Telekom Romania Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, plans to double the number of its base stations using solar panels this year, aiming to reduce its carbon footprint, the company said on Tuesday.
The company has been equipping its network of GSM antennas with solar panels since 2015, and has so far done so for over 300 locations, it said in a press release.
“With practically zero carbon emissions, Telekom Mobile’s base stations working on renewable energy will also considerably reduce the costs of power, contributing to a better cost efficiency of the company,” the company’s chief financial officer Nicolas Mahler said.
As a result of the sites upgrade, the telco expects their energy usage to drop up to 90%.
Nonetheless, the reliance on favourable meteorological conditions makes it difficult to completely disconnect the antenna sites from the traditional energy grid, as the hardware requires constant cooling through air conditioning. Furthermore, not all sites may be suited for solar panels. Approval for the installation of photovoltaic panels is subject to a technical and commercial assessment.
Telekom Mobile Romania, a telecommunications supplier headquartered in Bucharest, is a subsidiary of Greece’s OTE, which in turn is part of Deutsche Telekom.
In 2021, OTE purchased Telekom Mobile Romania from its then parent company, Telekom Communications Romania.
Telekom Mobile Romania’s total revenue stood at 386.8 million euro ($424 million) in 2021, according to the company’s latest financial report.
($ = 4.5 Romanian lei)