Network Sharing and its Energy Benefits: a Study of European Mobile Network Operators

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the potential energy saving inherent in the network sharing approach, whereby all (or significant parts) of the network infrastructures existing in a country can be shared by different network operators. In our study we consider European mobile network operators, and we use simple analytical models to show that in most European countries the amount of energy necessary to run mobile networks can be reduced by 35 to 60% with respect to the case in which each operator manages a separate network infrastructure.