Ericsson unveils wind-powered concept for its award-winni...

Ericsson unveils wind-powered concept for its award-winning Tower Tube

Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) today unveiled its latest energy-optimized radio base station site concept, a research project for a pioneering wind-powered Tower Tube. Working with Vertical Wind AB and Uppsala University in Sweden, Ericsson is developing the concept as part of its commitment to sustainable and cost-efficient solutions that help bring communications to all.

The wind-powered Tower Tube takes the energy-lean design of Ericsson's award-winning* original Tower Tube one step further by employing renewable energy. It harnesses wind power via a four-blade turbine with five-meter blades vertically attached to the tower. The vertical rotor blades work silently and minimize the load on the tower during operation.

Trials will be conducted to determine if the design of the energy-efficient Ericsson Tower Tube and the vertical wind rotor blades work together to enable low-cost mobile communication, with reduced impacts on both the local and global environment.

The Ericsson Tower Tube construction houses base stations and antennas, fully enclosing them in an aesthetically pleasing concrete tower. It has a smaller footprint and lower environmental impact than traditional steel towers with CO2 emissions related to materials, such as production an transportation, that are at least 30 percent lower.

Furthermore, the Ericsson Tower Tube has no need for feeders and cooling systems. With up to 40 percent lower power consumption than traditional base station sites, it helps operators reduce their operating costs significantly. It employs cutting-edge design and can be built in many sizes and painted in a variety of colors, making it a natural fit for any landscape.

Ulf Ewaldsson, Vice President and Head of Product Area Radio at Ericsson, says: "Combining wind power with Ericsson's Tower Tube brings further opportunities to support mobile communication in both urban and remote areas with no or limited access to the electricity grid. Ericsson's wind-powered Tower Tube research initiative reflects our ambition to use our technical leadership to drive sustainable, telecom expansion and deliver communication for all."

The move follows a series of initiatives from Ericsson to improve energy efficiency, reduce environmental impacts and lower the costs of mobile networks for operators. These include: solar-power for macro coverage base station sites; the BTS Power Savings feature that puts a network in stand-by mode during off-peak hours; biofuel-powered telecom sites; a hybrid solution using diesel and batteries; (www.ericsson.com/ericsson/press/releases/20071213-1175972.shtml) and the Village Solar Charger, co-developed with Sony Ericsson.