Large corporate operations can be both economical and sustainable

The country’s first mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider, CETIN Hungary, has been working for sustainable data transmission for years. In doing so, they strive to minimize the impact of their business activities on the environment, going beyond legal and other regulations. The CETIN 5Green program focuses on energy efficiency in network development and operation: energy-saving thinking and the integration of the necessary solutions into everyday operations are an indispensable part of this.

The digital world’s hunger for data is unquenchable: not only are users streaming and video chatting, but smart devices are also constantly communicating. The explosive growth of artificial intelligence is further strengthening this trend. As a result, data traffic is also increasing, and a key question is how to provide the necessary infrastructure in a more sustainable way. CETIN Hungary’s energy efficiency program, launched as part of its sustainability strategy, aims to reduce specific energy consumption – i.e. the unit energy demand of mobile infrastructure services – while the amount of data is growing exponentially.

The company recently completed the modernization of its entire network infrastructure at the end of a four-year process with an investment of more than 102 billion forints. In the process, they consciously experimented, systematically, and went beyond the minimum expected in the sector, pushing the boundaries of industry best practices. They sought innovative tools that could increase energy efficiency without disturbingly reducing the customer experience and service level. The program is built on five interconnected pillars:

1. They modernized the mobile network itself. The biggest advantage of modern devices compared to previous ones is that they can combine different frequency bands, which results in significant energy savings. An important next step from an energy efficiency perspective is the construction of a high-capacity, full-fledged 5G infrastructure, because this technology has the lowest specific energy consumption.
2. Energy consumption is managed effectively: during the energy-saving operation of radio and transmission technology devices, a method that intervenes at several levels of network operation is used. This optimizes the energy consumption of base stations without compromising the user experience. The network adapts to current user needs and provides the appropriate capacity.
3. The energy supply has been modernized: the modern devices introduced operate with lower heat and conversion losses.
4. The data centers have also been modernized: the use of servers is adjusted to the actual current needs. When it is not needed, capacity can be reduced, thus saving energy.
5. The transformation of the cooling system of base stations and data centers means not only the modernization of the devices – climate change or the introduction of freecooling using the lower temperature of the outside air – but also innovative solutions such as the controlled increase of the permissible operating temperature within safe limits. This also reduces the energy spent on cooling.

This has achieved visible, quantifiable results. Energy consumption per 1 GB has been reduced by almost half (around 47 percent) in two years, and CETIN has saved a total of 9.9 GWh of electricity annually – equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 4,500 average Hungarian households. Based on the results achieved, the program also won the Professional Excellence Award for Sustainable Infocommunications this year.