Assessment of the energy efficiency enhancement of future mobile networks

We assess the energy efficiency of mobile networks in 2020, and compare it with a 2010 baseline. A comprehensive assessment approach is taken, considering all relevant scenario aspects such as data traffic growth, hardware evolutions, mobile network deployments and operations including network sharing and the dynamic switching on/off of radio resources. In order to show the best technical capacities of mobile networks in achieving energy efficiency in 2020, while ensuring a fair comparison with the 2010 baseline scenarios, we apply a realistically appropriate approach for network dimensioning, determining suitable site densities that are in line with up- and downlink coverage and performance requirements. The results show an energy efficiency improvement factor of about 793 in 2020 over 2010.