The Green Power for Mobile Programme conducted its 2nd Bangladesh-specific Working Group on 11th May 2013 at Lakeshore Hotel, Dhaka. The event was co-hosted by Robi and supported by the International Finance Corporate, a World Bank Group Member, in partnership with the Netherlands.
The event was very successful, with 37 delegates representing 18 different industry stakeholders, who engaged in a lively discussion around green telecom issues.
The day-long event showcased MNO’s initiatives on green telecom deployments, the Government’s role in promoting green telecoms as well as new technology developments and business innovation for the Bangladeshi market. The day was divided into two sessions: The morning session looked at “where the Bangladesh market stand with regards to green deployments?” while the afternoon break-out session focussed “how to achieve the 5% green sites target by 2015?”
The event kicked off with a presentation of GPM’s Bangladesh Market Analysis report by Ali Imron, GPM Asia Project Manager, introducing the telecoms’ outlook in green power deployments and the opportunity for this market. Michael Kuhner, CEO of Robi, then gave a welcome speech to all the participants.
MNOs Present Green Telecom Deployment and Energy Efficiency Solutions
Asif Rahman, EVP Infrastructure Division of Robi, introduced the operator’s power management strategies: today up to 37% of their Network OPEX is allocated to energy costs (power and fuel). He presented the audience with the roadmap for new energy efficiency initiatives and green deployments, and raised the discussion around the question of infrastructure site sharing. Robi is now forming a team dedicated to infrastructure sharing for Bangladesh’s telecom market.
The following presentation by Ashim Chowdurry, Head of Network Operation of Airtel, compared energy cost consumption of fossil based solutions and Solar-DG hybrid site solutions. Airtel currently targets to green 30 new green for the next green deployment and are beginning a “Base Station modernization” programme to equip 1,850 sites with new type Base Stations, allowing Airtel to reduce power consumption in their network.
Technology Development
Deeye Energy, a storage technology company, opened the discussion on new technology developments. Purushottam Moga, Deeya’s General Manager for SEA and ANZA, discussed the issue of scaling grid storage and flow battery technology, and compared the benefits of conventional battery and flow battery technology.
Shah Md. Sazzad Hossain, CEO of Eltek Bangladesh, then presented its TCO model, a model which provides an answer to the Bangladeshi telecom market’s energy efficiency issues.
Ferdous Mottakin, GPM Programme Manager of GSMA, closed the technology development session providing the audience with the latest updates on fuel cell deployments across the world, and more specifically in Bangladesh. He highlighted the benefits of fuel cell energy compared to conventional solutions and raised the question of how to tackle fuel supply chain challenges.
The Government’s Role in Renewable Energy
Lt. Col. Md. Rakibul Hassan, Director System & Service of BTRC, shared his view on the way in which the government can support the deployment of green telecoms in Bangladesh: encouraging to MNOs to convert to Renewable Energy sources in order to make savings on their operational cost, reducing their energy costs while creating sustainable businesses, minimizing environment impact and improve communities’ living standards. He also mentioned the Government dialogue with telecom stakeholders on strategies to green the network by 5% in the next 5 years and of 10% in the next 10 years.
Business Innovation
Taro Araya, CEO of BMGP presented the company’s CAPEX and OPEX business innovation models for the telecom sector to achieve energy savings and green solutions. BMGP encourages MNOs to move to an outsourcing model in order to resolve the lack of capital issue and believes in the benefits for MNOs of energy outsourcing model.
Break-out Session Discussion
The morning break out session focused on the status of green deployments in the telecom sector. The result of discussion is as follows:
- MNOs are interested in green deployments as they enable OPEX savings
- MNOs still feel that there is a lack of green solutions offered by vendors in Bangladesh
- MNOs think that they would implement more green sites if the cost structure of green solutions was more competitive than that of fossil based solutions
- One of the challenges to achieving scale of green deployments is the tax on batteries part
- From an investor’s point of view, as long as the business model is solid, there will be no issue for the vendor/MNO to receive investment
During the second part of the break-out session, attendees discussed how to achieve 5% of green sites by 2015. The outcome from the discussion is as follows:
- MNOs suggested that the target was achievable, as it is in line with their strategy for deploying new sites in rural areas
- MNOs realise that renewable energies are the most adapted solution for off-grid sites’ conditions
- MNOs need more clarity on the regulations related to the ‘green terminology’. Green is most often understood as renewable energy or energy efficiency
- Some MNOs are actively deploying green solutions not only to achieve 5% target but to acquire more saving on the OPEX costs for their network
The audience also talked about the visibility of the different green technical solutions the country can choose from.
Several action points came out of the Working Group as well as key takeaways:
- New green technology needs to be introduced and trialled by the telecom industry in Bangladesh
- A definitive “green” definition needs to be outlined by the government’s regulatory body Does “green” refer to energy efficiency or renewable technology?
- Battery, as one component of a green solution, is not free of tax, whereas other green components have been exempt of tax. The government needs to establish a new incentive mechanism for battery or battery components to support green deployments in the country.
- There is a need to create a green committee within the telecom industry that would consist of multiple stakeholders who would formulate and suggest green strategies for the telecom industry to the government