In this interview, ZTE explain Africa’s evolving network energy requirements, from the 3G/4G present to the 5G future. With power requirements set to increase exponentially, the modularity and scalability of power systems becomes even more critical, and maintaining control of TCO will require increasing deployment of Network Energy Management systems based on big data analysis.
TowerXchange: Please introduce ZTE, particularly in terms of the solutions you propose for tower companies.
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
The ZTE energy product line mainly provides communication energy solutions and integrated data center solutions. The communication energy offering includes:
- Large power supply for central computer room/data center
- High voltage DC power supply
- Indoor and outdoor power supply for macro base station
- Embedded power supply
- Wall-mounted power supply for micro base station and PAD power supply
- SmartLi series batteries
- Hybrid energy solutions and network energy management solutions
Tower companies have become important enterprises in the construction and operation of mobile communication network infrastructure. We have some cooperation with global tower companies, while China Tower Corporation is also one of ZTE’s important customers in our domestic market. The energy sharing and network energy management solutions provided by ZTE help telecom tower company provide a stable power supply, and ensure the effective management of multi-operator cell sites.
TowerXchange: Can you share some success stories illustrating your experience and scale in Africa?
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
ZTE’s energy products have served more than 75 customers in the Middle East and Africa area, covering more than 45 countries and regions.
In addition to our DC power supply products for telecommunications, especially for unreliable and off-grid areas, ZTE’s hybrid energy solutions (including battery and diesel genset hybrids as well as solar and disel genset hybrids), and pure solar energy solution have been widely used, such as by the MTN Nigeria and South Africa branches, by Airtel Africa in several countries, Ethio Telecom, et cetera. Through these cooperations and applications, ZTE have accumulated a rich experience of network power supply in the African region.
TowerXchange: As Africa evolves from 3G to 4G and eventually 5G, what are the critical considerations for towercos in terms of the changing configuration of antenna on their towers, the weight and power load of that equipment?
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
With the construction of the 4G/5G network, the 2G network will gradually stop operation, and the corresponding antenna system will eventually be dismantled. At the same time, multi-frequency antenna applications mean 3G/4G base stations can share antennas, so the tower load will not increase significantly. With the construction of a 5G network, the power consumption of 5G equipment is greatly increased compared with that of 4G equipment. For example, the power consumption of a single S111 station is about 4,000W. In addition, 5G network construction will first expand on existing 4G sites, so the overall power sites consumption will increase dramatically. The sufficiency of electric capacity, stability and management of site power supply are the main issues to be considered in the future.
the power consumption of 5G equipment is greatly increased compared with that of 4G equipment. For example, the power consumption of a single S111 station is about 4000W. In addition, 5G network construction will first expand on existing 4G sites, so the overall power sites consumption will increase dramatically
TowerXchange: How should cell site energy systems be designed with the necessary modularity and scalability to accommodate multiple tenants?
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
With the development and construction of the 4G/5G network, especially the evolution from 4G to 5G, and multi-tenant applications, energy systems must be modular and scalable. This mainly applies to the site control management unit, power conversion system, and energy storage system.
Control management is the key for a site. Regardless of the expansion of power and the increase in tenants, unified control and unified management must be enabled. At the same time, the solution should have the characteristics of multi-system, multi-energy input, hybrid energy control management, meticulous measurement and management of multi-tenants, multi-mode networking, et cetera.
The design of power conversion systems should consider DC distribution modularisation, power unit modularisation, power subrack modularisation, and AC input unit modularisation and expansion.
The design of the energy storage system mainly considers the hybrid application of batteries, without an external switching unit, the direct mixing of lead acid and lithium-ion batteries, the direct mixing of old and new lithium-ion batteries, and the smooth expansion of the energy storage system.
TowerXchange: Some African towercos’ investment in batteries has increased as much as 3x, driven in particular by the adoption of lithium-ion batteries. What does ZTE see as the benefits of lithium-ion over lead-acid batteries, and in what use cases is lithium-ion particularly favourable?
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
Compared with traditional lead-acid batteries, lithium-ion batteries have better cycle performance, high temperature performance, charge-discharge performance, they are less likely to be stolen, and they have a longer design life.
With the vigorous development of electric vehicles around the world, the price of lithium batteries’ core materials is dropping sharply every year. At the same time, due to the superiority of lithium performance, the allocation capacity of lead-acid batteries in equivalent scenarios is usually higher than that of lithium batteries, which leads to better costs of lithium battery configuration.
The application characteristics of lithium batteries are prominent in areas without grid connections or with frequent blackouts, and battery recycling scenarios, such as battery and diesel genset hybrid solutions and fast charging battery solutions. In addition, the unique iLock and other anti-theft technological designs of ZTE’s SmartLi series lithium batteries greatly reduces the rate of battery theft and further promotes the application of lithium power.
TowerXchange: Towercos and MNOs increasingly realise that optimising opex is not just about energy efficiency, but about improving cell site autonomy and reducing O&M costs. How has ZTE been able to support reductions in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
To reduce TCO, previously capex and opex were mainly used to evaluate the energy supply of typical cell sites, and TCO was optimised through different solutions selection and adjustments to configurations.
In recent years, ZTE’s Network Energy Management Solutions, have evolved to include six functional modules:
- Network monitoring
- Energy efficiency improvement
- Operation and maintenance (O&M) management
- Operational management
- Site security
- Asset management
These six modules are based on large data analysis and are business-oriented, thereby helping towercos and operators achieve multi-level and refined energy management of their entire network. The overall efficiency of energy, operation and maintenance of the whole network has been improved, which greatly reduces the total cost of investment.
TowerXchange: TowerXchange is forecasting that the highest levels of growth in terms of new site deployment in Sub-Saharan African in 2021 will come from the liberalisation of the Ethiopian telecom market. What has been ZTE’s experience in Ethiopia – what can you tell us about the operating conditions in the country?
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
Nowadays, new operators are being introduced into Ethiopian telecom market, but it is impossible for new operators to build a new physical network, which has a long cycle and a low rate of return. The liberalisation of Ethiopia’s telecom market will inevitably mean new entrants adopt the multi-operator leasing mode from towercos, in other words, the towercos will also be introduced into the Ethiopian telecom market. Most of Ethio Telecom’s network was built in cooperation with ZTE. We fully understand the current status of the network, especially the site infrastructure, including its energy supply. At present, there is an urgent need to renovate the energy supply equipment and the existing site systems, as well as the core computer room, and to establish a perfect network energy management system to lay the foundation for the construction of 4G and the development of liberalisation in Ethiopia’s telecom market.
TowerXchange: Please share ZTE’s vision for co-operation with tower companies.
Ma Guangji, Vice President and General Manager of Energy Products, ZTE:
ZTE’s cooperation with tower companies has a bright and promising future. In China, ZTE has deeply cooperated with China Tower Corporation and has become one of the most important suppliers of energy equipment and solutions since then. At the same time, ZTE has maintained cooperation and joint research on network energy development planning and several innovative topics. Internationally, ZTE has a certain degree of cooperation with Asian, European, African and South American towercos. With the rapid development of 5G construction in the next two to three years, ZTE will further deepen and broaden its cooperation with tower companies and jointly contribute to the development of global telecommunications infrastructure.
