5G power consumption is 2.5 to 3 times of 4G
The power consumption of a 5G single station is 2.5 to 3.5 times that of a 4G single station. The increase in AAU power consumption
That's almost a threefold increase compared to 4G (5). One 5G base station is estimated to consume about as much power as 73 households (6), and 3x as much as the previous generation of base stations (5), (7).
However, Li says 5G base stations are carrying five times the traffic as when equipped with only 4G, pushing up power consumption. The carrier is seeking subsidies from the Chinese government to help with the increased energy usage.
The Small Cell Forum predicts the installed base of small cells to reach 70.2 million in 2025 and the total installed base of 5G or multimode small cells in 2025 to be 13.1 million. “A 5G base station is generally expected to consume roughly three times as much power as a 4G base station.
To achieve gigabit speeds, the plan with 5G is to have it operate at very high frequencies of 24-26 Gigahertz. For this reason, 5G requires millions of new so-called “small cells,” for example, transmitters in lampposts. Billions of new wireless devices will soon be available worldwide. All of the above consumes electricity.
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