Bharti Airtel has tagged 58% of its network sites as ‘Green Sites’. This means more than half of Airtel’s network sites are now powered from renewable energy sources or are designed for energy efficiency, thereby reducing environmental impact. Airtel Managing Director and CEO Gopal Vittal in Q2FY25 The earnings report said:
“Despite adding more than 75,000 network sites in the last two years, diesel consumption at our towers has declined by more than 20 lakh liters per month.”
Part of ‘War on Waste’ strategy
The initiative is part of Airtel’s fifth and final strategy ‘War on Waste’, which is a central element of the operator’s operations.
Airtel claims to prioritize efficiency without compromising on service quality. Over the last two years, Airtel has saved over Rs 5,000 crore in network operations costs (OPEX).
Solar energy and sustainability efforts
- Recently, Airtel equipped more than 3,500 sites with solar energy in one quarter.
- In the last five quarters, Airtel connected around 24,800 sites with solar power.
- Special power reduction solutions have been used to make Airtel’s 5G Plus network environment friendly.
Important Sustainability Initiatives
In February 2024, Airtel introduced recycled PVC SIM cards.
In October 2024, a “Green 5G” initiative was launched in partnership with Nokia.
Goal of Green 5G Initiative
The Green 5G initiative aims to increase the energy efficiency of Airtel’s 4G and 5G networks and reduce carbon emissions.
Under this initiative, Airtel is aiming for “Zero-Traffic, Zero-Watt” operation, which plans to reduce the energy consumption of network radio to the lowest level during traffic-free hours.
This step has been taken with the aim of improving energy conservation and power management.