This blog is written by our UK&I CTO, Sean Keating, for our 2025 Sustainability report.

Like any industry, mobile telecoms has its own unique set of challenges. While revenue per user has fallen to just £13, demand for data has grown thirty-fold over the last decade or so.  The number of suppliers has drastically reduced.  Many famous names like Lucent, Alcatel, Siemens, Motorola, and more are now gone from the scene.

Meanwhile, things have not been going great for our planet either.  The CO2 in our air is growing at an alarming rate.  We are seeing sea-temperature records being smashed (hello weird jellyfish?), and many climate-driven catastrophes.  ICT emissions are double those of the aviation sector. 

Unfortunately, our telecoms standards were not written with sustainability in mind.  The basic Class-A amplifier technology used in mobile is nearly 120 years old and has a maximum efficiency of just 25%. 

With electricity prices having doubled over the last five years. There is a genuine payoff now for doing the right thing and making our networks more sustainable.

This is where OpenRAN technology comes in.  It follows the lead of the IT sector with an open architecture.  This separates hardware from software, giving us the ability to innovate.  Gone are proprietary and vertically integrated technologies.  In are off-the-shelf servers and open-source software.  Altogether, it is a key enabler of AI-ready, secure and sustainable networks.

In our Stadium of Light project, we deliver coverage and capacity to 49,000 fans on match day.  We have achieved an incredible customer experience with high data speeds and excellent reliability.  OpenRAN technology is used to create an end-to-end digital network.  This removes radios, amplifiers, heat-emitting attenuators, and air conditioning plant.  Space requirements are reduced by 86% and electricity consumption by 76%.  We also have exciting plans in progress to do more with AI-driven network management from our private cloud architecture.

When it comes to climate change, attitudes vary.  From strong advocates for change, to deniers, or perhaps even worse, those who are ambivalent because of the belief that others will eat the consequences.  At Boldyn Networks, we believe in the power of an interconnected future, and we are committed to building sustainability into everything we do.