Green Networking in 5G and Beyond

As 5G is evolving to 5G Advanced and setting the path to 6G, the network infrastructure design should be as energy efficient as possible. With the advent of IoT, numerous devices will be deployed that result in a rapid increase in energy consumption. Typically, base stations consume more energy; hence, there is a huge amount of carbon dissipating in the atmosphere and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), resulting in global warming. The energy that comes from base stations is the major contributor to the mobile network, and this results in an increase in the operating expenses (OPEX) for the telecom operators. Telecom operators see the risk in the business portfolio and product competitiveness [1]. Hence, proper energy-saving solutions should be deployed, which help operators to improve operating efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and thus reduce OPEX. Energy solutions will be deployed at the site, network, and device levels as possible outcomes. This paper mainly focuses on energy consumption by the mobile networks at different levels, and it highlights different energy-saving solutions constituting greener networks without affecting the overall network performance.