Bharti

Airtel deploys E-site management solution in Nigeria

• ● Solar energy 'green' site station power management solution to power 250 diesel powered base stations
• ● Potential to save substantial energy needed to power base stations

New Delhi / Nigeria, November 10, 2011 – Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced a contract with Ericsson - the world's largest mobile telecommunications equipment vendor, to upgrade an initial batch of 250 diesel powered base stations in Nigeria with E-site, a new "green" energy solution.

The 'green' mobile initiative announced today, is yet another milestone in Airtel's journey to deliver value to end users. This will improve operations and minimize its environmental impact.

The award winning E-site solution will enable Airtel harness solar energy to power mobile base stations across Nigeria. Developed and manufactured by Flexenclosure, a specialist provider of intelligent site power management solutions for off-grid base station sites. The solution has been tested by Airtel in Kenya for close to two years and has proven to substantially reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions when compared to a 24/7 diesel powered site.

Manoj Kohli, CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said, "We are happy to take the lead in deploying and rolling out state-of-the-art green power solutions and reducing our dependency on diesel. This latest initiative will not only enable us to significantly reduce operating costs but also contribute to the reduction in the greenhouse effect. Going forward, we aim to introduce and take forward this green and efficient initiative in the rest of our operations.

The E-site is mainly powered by renewable energy sources (sun and wind) and uses a battery bank for storage of energy. The wind turbines have been modified and perfected for this particular purpose. E-site's sophisticated control system ensures that maximum power is captured from the renewable energy sources and that the use of the battery bank is highly efficient. Under the agreement, Ericsson will be responsible for implementation and maintenance services for all the sites.

Lars Linden, Head of Ericsson, Region sub-Saharan Africa said, "We are driving the implementation of this innovative solution in support of sustainability and the development of the networked society. The new green and highly cost efficient base station solution makes not only environmental sense, but also financial sense for our customers enabling the efficient deployment of services to previously un-served or underserved areas".