Telenor Pakistan completes solar-powered network
Country: Pakistan
Topic: Environment and Climate
Last updated:
Nearly 1.63 million more people in Pakistan will now have access to telecommunications services.
Telenor Pakistan is the first mobile operator in the country to establish a solar-powered network in Universal Service Fund (USF)-assisted areas. USF is a Pakistani government fund established to provide basic data and telephony services to the un-served and under-served areas of the country.
“We are delighted to have created the largest solar-powered cell network in the USF-assisted areas,” said Khalid Shehzad, Chief Technology Officer, Telenor Pakistan. “Our aim is to provide environmentally-friendly telecommunication services in even the remotest areas of Pakistan, helping reduce power demands on the national grid and carbon emissions. Alternative energy solutions are the way forward and we will continue to explore greener, more environmentally-friendly solutions for our business.”
Of the 50 solar-powered cell sites established, 47 are in the USF-assisted areas of Mirpur Khas and Bahawalpur. The other three sites are in Islamabad and Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa.
The solar-powered cell sites are an outcome of Telenor Pakistan’s Green Energy Project that aims to provide environment-friendly telecommunications solutions. Traditional alternatives, such as diesel generators, are neither environmentally-friendly nor cost-efficient. With renewable energy solutions Telenor Pakistan can cost efficiently extend its network to rural areas and connect the unconnected.
This project aims to reduce an average of 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per site, by saving over 940 litres of diesel – each month. The total saving on 47 sites would be over 500 000 litres of diesel per year.