Network Sharing: a pathway to Sustainability and Carbon Footprint Mitigation in Radio Access Networks
Résumé
The extensive densification of radio access networks (RANs) aims to cope with the staggering increase in mobile traffic demand. However, this process raises remarkable concerns due to the resulting growth in RAN energy consumption and the associated carbon footprint. This paper examines the potential of network sharing (NS) among mobile network operators (MNOs) as a sustainable alternative to network densification, addressing energy and environmental challenges in RAN operation. By enabling the recurrent deactivation of base stations (BSs) during periods of low traffic demand, NS offers a promising approach to reduce energy consumption. We investigate the energy savings achievable under two NS strategies across various area types, analyzing the impact of dynamically adjusting NS parameters over time. Additionally, the interplay between BS sleep mode duration and the frequency of BS switching operations reveals conflicting effects on BS degradation. Our study evaluates these effects, demonstrating how the proposed NS strategies can effectively extend BS lifetimes. In addition to energy savings, our results highlight the significant benefits of NS in mitigating the RAN carbon footprint, achieved through reductions in both operational and embodied carbon emissions.