Solutions That Improve Your Network And Are Energy Efficient—It’s Not A Dream

- Mark Alrutz, director of technical sales, services and training for CommScope (www.commscope.com), says:

Expanding service offerings are important for MSOs because they must evolve their networks to keep up with the competition. While they do that, they are also investigating ways to reduce power and fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse emissions and operating costs. Not only do they need the right solutions to maximize and improve their network’s technology, but also reduce their energy costs and improve network efficiency. 

MSOs now have several options to reduce their energy cost, and they can accomplish that partnering with CommScope to implement the right solution for their specific needs. We’ve demonstrated how our energy conservation and alternative energy solutions can help operators:

§  provide reliable backup power using “green” technology

§  improve reliability and reduce energy consumption by reducing active electronics in the network

§  reduce energy consumption in the headend and hut locations

§  lower overall operating expenditures

By deploying a hydrogen fuel cell power solution, operators can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption at hub sites. Unlike diesel generators that emit greenhouse gases, the only by-products of hydrogen fuel cells are heat and water. The Society of Cable Telecommunication Engineers installed a hydrogen fuel cell at its corporate headquarters in Pennsylvania in June 2011. It was called into service when the building lost power during Hurricane Irene last summer, keeping its network online and functioning until power was restored.

Installations of free-air cooling solutions in the wireless industry have shown a reduction of approximately 25 percent (estimated $2,000 annually per site in energy savings) in overall power consumption in a variety of climates. By deploying a proper free-air cooling system for a shelter, operators can choose fan configurations and define filter specifications that meet their desired standard for air quality.

By adopting the OneBase InSite® Connect solution, operators now have the visibility and flexibility to more effectively control a number of operational parameters. This simple change to a company’s day-to-day operations can also save money on truck rolls and fuel costs, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve security at unmanned locations.

Not only is an all-digital, carrier grade wideband edge QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) vital to supporting additional advanced and next-generation services over HFC networks, but thisinnovative technology is also designed to lower power consumption in headend/hub environments through consolidation of equipment (requires less power for equipment and for HVAC). By deploying the award-winning Universal Wideband Edge QAM solution, this technology’s increased density provides cable operators with the ability to reduce capital and operating expenses by significantly lowering the price per QAM. With a low 0.5 watt per QAM power consumption, operators can now benefit from a dramatic reduction in power and cooling costs.

BrightPath® Optical Solutions (BOS™) provides operators with the ability to  FTTx solution that meets their needs of today while providing a migration path to the technology of tomorrow. It also helps reduce power consumption in the outside plant by eliminating or reducing active components. BOS customers can cost effectively continue to deliver competitive high bandwidth services and fully leverage all of their existing infrastructures, while saving approximately $1,000 per mile, per year, on energy costs using an RFoG network.

By deploying an Intelligent Addressable Tap Solution, operators have the ability to remotely control taps from the system office, headend or technical center. The ability to remotely control individual tap ports yields maximum benefits to operators in vacation areas, campus environments, MDUs and other high churn areas. This flexibility allows operators to reduce truck rolls, thus reducing fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. 

 Are you ready to deploy energy conservation and management solutions?