Why does 5g base station consume so much power and how to
According to industry insiders'' estimates, 100000 5G base stations require at least 2 billion yuan in electricity bills per year, so 8 million 5G base stations require at least 160 billion
In 2022, Chinese telcos and China Tower built approximately 887,000 5G base stations, at an infrastructure cost of over RMB 180 billion (USD 26 billion), accounting for 43% of the fixed asset investment that year . As these companies are state-owned in nature, their culture and organisational setup make them responsive to political objectives.
Setting up a 5G base station is expensive, with costs ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 per site. This price includes hardware, installation, site rental, and maintenance. Urban areas often have higher costs due to land prices and infrastructure challenges.
With 5G base stations consuming approximately 3 times more power per base station unit , this means 5G networks could result in a nine-fold increase in electricity costs and carbon emissions. In the face of this challenge, many solutions are being trialled and introduced to reduce 5G energy consumption, and not just in China.
As of the end of 2022, China had a total of 10.8 million base stations, including 2.3 million 5G base stations, accounting for 60% of the world's total 5G base stations . It's estimated that China's per capita base station number is about 4 times that of the United States and 2.3 times that of the European Union .
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