Nokia launches new power saving mode that shuts down radio equipment in no traffic periods

Nokia today launched a new power-saving mode called 'extreme deep sleep' that shuts down radio equipment in no traffic periods, achieving 'zero traffic, zero Watt' with much more energy saving. Orange will roll out the solution in the second half of 2024 to enhance the energy efficiency of its mobile networks.

"Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Nokia, and we are committed to continuously maximizing the energy efficiency of our technology and AirScale radio access portfolio. This latest achievement with our partner, Orange, is further proof of our efforts to help our customers meet their targets and achieve their sustainability ambitions," said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia.

The mode, which is referred to as "zero traffic, zero Watt" detects when the network has low traffic and shuts down key parts of selected radio units’ hardware to save on energy cost. Nokia claims that the new solution results in an eightfold reduction in energy usage at the radio level compared to the standard deep sleep mode.

The solution leverages software in Nokia's Habrok radio units and MantaRay energy solution, which optimizes the energy consumption of radio access networks with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

Commenting on this development, Arnaud Vamparys, CTIO, Orange Europe, said, "We have long advocated the need for ecosystem cooperation if we are to reduce our industry’s environmental footprint and make our networks as energy efficient as possible. This project is in line with our ambition to reduce our CO2 emissions by 45% in 2030 compared with 2020 for all scopes 1, 2 and 3, as set out in our "Lead the future" strategic plan."

We are collaborating closely with @Orange to make the zero traffic, zero Watt approach a reality in radio networks! The Extreme Deep Sleep Mode of our AirScale radios can reduce energy consumption at the radio level by a factor of eight. Read more 📰: https://t.co/UtTcJIbjGy pic.twitter.com/sNYUxRkFSj

— Nokia (@nokia) February 20, 2024