Alcatel-Lucent announced the commissioning of its 200th radio site powered by solar energy. The site – including base station, microwave and all other electrical components – is completely powered by the sun, providing telecom services to remote communities on the island of Bettenty and surrounding Saloum islands, in Senegal.

Alcatel-Lucent’s GSM solution, with its minimal power requirements, has made it possible for the people in these communities to have affordable access to the wireless network.

The company has a long history of developing power efficiency and today offers a GSM solution with power consumption levels up to 40% less compared to other vendors with no decrease in traffic flow or extent of coverage.

In a site like Bettenty, the low power consumption of the Alcatel-Lucent GSM Base Station was critical in enabling the service provider to use solar power as the only source of energy for the cell site. The base stations low power consumption means that only a few solar panels are required, making the site very affordable to deploy.

The commissioning of this 200th solar powered cell site is an industry landmark for the use of eco-sustainable power solutions. The company recently signed the United Nations Global Compact “Caring for Climate” initiative to further strengthen its commitment to increase energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of its activities. Alcatel-Lucent’s 200th solar-powered radio site also illustrates how Alcatel-Lucent is helping to bridge the digital divide and favor social and economic development in high-growth economies through its Broadband for All program.

“Thanks to Alcatel-Lucent power performance, mobile operators around the globe can reduce their network energy consumption costs and extend the radio coverage of their networks to remote areas. This is part of Alcatel-Lucent’s innovative approach to reducing the cost of the network. Autonomously powered radio sites are an absolute necessity to extend the reach of mobile telecom networks to areas not covered by electricity grids. In sunny regions, solar power is an affordable, reliable and eco-friendly alternative to traditional diesel generators, whose dependency on the oil market makes operating costs expensive,” said Laurent Cruchant, Alcatel-Lucent’s Vice President for GSM business.