Extra power

ADSL South Africa (Broadband South Africa), 26 February 2007

Power blackouts in South Africa and the rest of Africa have left some mobile operators with no choice but to seek alternative power sources for their base stations.

According to Motorola’s Sales Director for sub-Saharan Africa, Stefano Mattiello, “Power is the single largest problem in Africa” (Who needs Eskom?, Claasen, Financial Mail, 23 February 2007). No wonder that mobile operators such as Vodacom and MTN are actively trying to cut their dependence on Eskom and other electricity suppliers in Africa.

Do mobile operators currently have any backup power generating capacity?

Yes. Vodacom and MTN for instance are making use of a ‘…combination of battery reserves and diesel generators at their base stations…’ that guarantee up to 8 hours of extra power in the case of widespread blackouts (Who needs Eskom?, Claasen, Financial Mail, 23 February 2007). In other words, if there’s a nationwide blackout in South Africa the cellular phone networks should still be operating for up to 8 hours.

‘But mobile operators are not content only to have some kind of backup power generating capacity’ (Who needs Eskom?, Claasen, Financial Mail, 23 February 2007).

What are the alternative power sources they can use?

A list of alternative power sources looks something like this:

• Wind power – ‘Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into more useful forms, usually electricity using wind turbines’ (Wikipedia ). Multinational communications company, Motorola, is for instance ‘evaluating a combination of solar and wind power to run some of its base stations’ (Who needs Eskom?, Claasen, Financial Mail, 23 February 2007).

• Solar power – ‘Solar power is the technology of obtaining usable energy from the light of the Sun. Solar energy has been used in many traditional technologies for centuries and has come into widespread use where other power supplies are absent, such as in remote locations and in space’ (Wikipedia).

• Biofuel  – ‘Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass — recently living organisms or their metabolic byproducts, such as manure from cows. It is a renewable energy source, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear fuels’ (Wikipedia). MTN for one ‘is testing the feasibility of using biofuel in a number of pilot projects in the rural regions of southeastern and southwestern Nigeria’ (Who needs Eskom?, Claasen, Financial Mail, 23 February 2007).

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