Toward environmental sustainability in mobile internet access : an integrated parametric model for radio access networks
(2026)
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- (en) The increasing digitalization of human activities raises various environmental sustainability challenges. Focusing on mobile Internet access, this thesis examines cellular radio access networks (RANs) and their constituent base stations (BSs). Given the rising electricity consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of RANs alongside the growth in mobile data traffic, mobile networks must undergo an environmental transition that preserves sufficient quality of service (QoS) for users. Accordingly, this thesis aims to support the implementation of QoS-informed transition strategies for RANs toward environmental sustainability. First, the thesis develops an integrated parametric RAN model that simultaneously assesses QoS, energy consumption, and life-cycle environmental impacts under given operating conditions. This model is then applied to Belgium to evaluate efficient BS designs, power-saving strategies, and prospective RAN deployment strategies from 2020 to 2030. The results show that BS energy consumption scales primarily with the number of installed frequency bands and the transmit power per band. Moreover, the use stage typically dominates the environmental impacts of BS life cycles. The prospective study also reveals that QoS, energy consumption, and GHG emissions of RANs are primarily driven by deployment strategies rather than traffic demand. Based on these findings, the proposed RAN model could support future research investigating improved transition strategies.
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Golard, L. (2026). Toward environmental sustainability in mobile internet access : an integrated parametric model for radio access networks. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/276841