Tech

Mobile networks are also at risk of being cut off this winter due to the energy shortage

The government is preparing to face the winter and the looming energy shortage by considering several service cuts. Among them, telephone networks are not immune. Indeed, Enedis could announce cuts to operators the day before for the next day.

iphone call

“It will be the responsibility of the communities to add the infrastructures of the operators to the list”. This is what a French minister told Reuters media about potential cuts to the mobile phone network. This list mentioned is the list of services considered essential which will be protected from power outages, like hospitals or even defence. For the time being, it is therefore not excluded that our smartphones will become (almost) useless this winter.

It is a real headache for the government as well as for the operators. With 50,000 telephone antennas across the territory, the risk of rotating load shedding, saving energy, is high. To avoid this, there is only one solution: add its antennas to the list of essential services. A priority mission for Orange, as assured by Gaëlle Le Vu, director of communication and CSR of the operator.

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Will our smartphones still work this winter?

“For our part, we are as transparent as possible with the public authorities so that the load shedding zones chosen allow us to continue to provide coverage there via antennas installed in adjacent zones”, continues Gaëlle Le Vu. It must be said that for the time being, the method adopted by Enedis is drastic to say the least. Indeed, the network manager plans to warn operators only the day before of cuts to their infrastructures.

“Too much time tight,” laments one of them, who fears he won’t have the time to do what is necessary to maintain the mobile network. Indeed, most antennas today are equipped with back-up batteries, which could allow the continuity of services. But these will only last a few hours. After this time, the network will be cut off. A tense situation that is raising concern among operators, some of whom plan to close shops to limit the risk of looting.

5G antenna

What about the fixed network? Normally, the latter should be spared from cuts, since it was designed precisely to be able to operate independently. Again, Orange plans to use its emergency batteries when needed, which should keep the signal going. But the problem remains the same: the autonomy of the batteries should not be exceeded. Gaëlle Le Vu warns: “However, the capacity of the batteries of our antennas is not sufficient”.

Operators on the battlefield to avoid mobile network cuts

For the operators, therefore, remains to limit the damage. The plan: manage to partner with Enedis to design, together, a strategy based on compromise. The number one goal is to agree on a number of network nodes considered essential. As explained above, these cannot be affected by the cuts. Objective number two: maintain a minimum service for users in the event of an outage, in particular emergency calls.

“The more Enedis will be transparent about this information, the more effective we will be in ensuring the continuity of mobile service”, insists Gaëlle Le Vu. According to an expert, the challenge is therefore to gain access to the mesh maps designed by Enedis, which will make it possible to react effectively by measuring the impact of a cut on the network. In other words, replace the extinguished antennas by others, located nearby.

An antenna

The strategy will then be adapted to the area concerned. Indeed, all the antennas do not cover the same geographical area. In large cities, for example, an antenna provides the network within a radius of 500 meters, while in medium-sized cities, it is more likely to be 1 or 2 kilometers, and 10 to 30 kilometers in small towns.

Operators will participate in the collective effort to save energy

To avoid power cuts, the most effective way is to limit your own consumption. Operators have understood this and everyone has their own method of lowering the counters. Orange, in particular, plans to switch several thousand fixed network antennas to their batteries, approximately one hour per day. According to Gaëlle Le Vu, this “will save up to 20 MW over this period of time, i.e. the instantaneous consumption of an average city of 40,000 inhabitants”.

On the same subject – Linky: 5 million households risk power cuts this winter

Iliad, for its part, plans to turn off certain frequency bands at night. The 2100 MHz bands in 4G, 2100 in 3G and 3.5 GHz in 5 G will now be concerned. Thanks to this plan, the group plans to reduce its electricity consumption by 10% during the winter, “without impacting usage and quality of service”, he assures. Another measure, data centers will be cut 7.05 MW of their instantaneous consumption “in the event of a nationwide energy tension” and “whenever necessary”. The cuts can last between 1 and 24 hours.

Despite all these ideas on the table, some believe that other sectors could provide more effort. An expert interviewed by the Journal du Net explains for example that “mobile networks each represent around 1% of the electricity consumed nationally”. At the same time, reducing the frequency of trains by 10% would make it possible to comply with the emergency measures introduced by the European Union on 30 September.

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