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Energy costs constitute a large percentage of the operating expenditure when it comes to the management of telecom towers. Most of the Telecom and Tower operators have deployed a number of sites in the remote areas. These are either off-grid or in problematic grid areas with unreliable power supply that greatly rely on backup power sources like diesel generators, batteries, solar power or other alternative energy systems. These high-cost power alternatives are deployed so that Tower and Telecom companies meet the stringent KPIs, maintain high uptime and most importantly reduce penalty. The secondary power sources are a reliable solution for powering the sites but not so economical especially when these are used to keep the site running for 24 hours or even more.

One of the most common complaints across these sites is about diesel pilferage during the fuel delivery and filling process as well as battery theft. Similarly, other energy-related challenges such as energy consumption mismanagement managed service partners- Towerco disagreement leading to reconciliation issues, hidden fuel usage, key data reports coupled with unreliable power supply impact the energy expenditure of telecom and tower companies.

Another major area that contributes to rising energy costs is inefficient battery capacity planning based on power outages. Maintenance of batteries, battery lifecycle management as well as ensuring proper charging and discharging of batteries are other problems faced by telecom tower companies which affect both the ability to plan battery CAPEX as well as increase value of assets deployed on-site.

Thus, to lower the OPEX and improve operational efficiencies telecom tower companies must focus on cutting down energy costs of backup power sources. There is an imperative need for smart and innovative energy tracking solutions to ensure timely management of diesel generators, batteries and alternative sources deployed at sites. By effectively using energy tracking systems, we can achieve the intended ROI and maintain the uptime of 99.95 per cent to successfully meet the KPIs consistently.

Our energy management and tracking solution empower tower and telecom companies by helping them gain operational excellence. It can monitor the fuel supply and distribution, electricity usage, and sources of electricity through energy data records over a mobile network. (Our customers observed around 20% savings in fuel expenses.)

This futuristic solution saves telecom tower companies and MSPs from the excruciating paperwork and there is increased transparency in operations. The system automatically predicts and generates a fuel filling beat plan, based on the business logic that has been fed into it. Collection and validation of power and fuel data in real-time help the user to calculate and track the cost associated with the consumption, thereby enhancing energy reconciliation. Since all the data is available in a central repository, the vendor invoices are easily compared and any data discrepancy is brought to light which is assigned back for resolution. Not only this accelerates invoice approvals but saves companies from paying more.

When the backup power sources are used for more than 8 hours in a day it significantly contributes to the energy costs and affects the profitability of operators. To reap the financial benefits the telecom tower companies must take data-driven decisions to improve energy performance and efficiently use backup power sources across the sites. The investment in smart energy management solutions will ensure maintenance and regular upkeep of these power sources to address challenges well before time. As a result, these power sources will last longer, OPEX costs will reduce by a great margin and the expected energy ROI will be achieved.