We’re on a mission to reduce our carbon emissions, as part of our Sustainability Kaupapa and Network Forward strategy. One of the ways we do this is through energy efficiency measures and by turning off or turning down parts of our mobile network when customers aren’t using it, a bit like the standby function on your television.
We have saved 24 GWh (gigawatt hours) over the last two years since we started optimising energy supply and demand. In New Zealand standards, this is equivalent to 1,720 tonnes of accumulated CO2-e (carbon dioxide equivalent), using the latest Ministry of Environment figures*.
Thaigan Govender, GM Mobile Network, says: “We use advanced functionality available on our newer 4.5G and 5G cell site equipment to optimise our mobile services. This means cell sites can be switched back on almost instantaneously if the network senses customers trying to connect, meaning our customers don’t notice.
“As you’d expect, there aren’t a lot of people using their mobile phones between midnight and 6am, so this is when we save the most power. These savings really add up, totalling equivalent to 1,720 tonnes of CO2-e over the past two years.”
This solution currently uses machine learning, and has been ramping up over the past few years to be fully automated. Now the One NZ team is working to apply advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to manage the networks’ power consumption and load balancing. This makes it incredibly efficient and can even predict future low traffic periods based on historic data.
As Thaigan explains: “We’re a team of Kiwis who come to work to better connect our customers, and we’re now applying the latest AI to make our network even smarter. This has the dual benefit of improving energy efficiency and therefore reducing carbon emissions, plus freeing up productive hours for our engineers to focus on other mobile optimisation such as working with SpaceX to deliver coverage like never before.”
For more information about One NZ’s mobile network services, including next generation technology, please visit www.one.nz. For more information about One NZ’s sustainability kaupapa, please visit: https://one.nz/our-company/corporate-responsibility/
*Calculations based on Measuring emissions: A guide for organisations: 2024 detailed guide: https://environment.govt.nz/publications/measuring-emissions-a-guide-for-organisations-2024-detailed-guide/