Bharti Airtel migrates 40,000 network sites to green technology

This is under Project Leap where the company has committed to bring down its carbon footprint emission by 70 per cent by 2018

Country’s largest telecom services provider Bharti Airtel has migrated 40,000 of its network sites across India to green technology.

More than 40,000 of these green network sites are designed to operate largely on battery-hybrid, lithium-ion and solar-hybrid solutions, with little diesel consumption.

Under Project Leap, Airtel will establish a world-class and future-ready network, while committing to bring down its carbon footprint emission by 70 per cent by 2018, the company said in a statement.

Project Leap is focusing heavily on a series of fresh initiatives towards a greener environment and building sustainable network for future.

“We are committed to bringing down the carbon emission by 70 per cent and are taking all measures, including bringing in state-of-art technology and partnering with the best globally,” Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer (India & South Asia), Airtel, said.

Airtel has also adopted a range of innovative methods like reducing power consumption by switching off unused capacity of its network sites during lean periods. It is also reducing power consumption and airwave emissions by optimising signal transmission between the network and the device, the company said.

“We plan to adopt solar and new battery technologies in a big way and double our green network sites by 2020. With a strategic focus on creating a green network, we remain committed to learning from the telecom industry's best practices from across the globe,” Vittal added.