kSIST FprES 203 228 V1.5.0:2026

• Abstract:

  RES/EE-EEPS69

• Status: Not Published
• ICS: 19.040 - Environmental testing
• ICS: 27.015 - Energy efficiency. Energy conservation in general
• ICS: 33.070.01 - Mobile services in general
• Technical Committee: SPN - Services and Protocols for Networks
• Current Stage: 5020 - Formal vote (FV) (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 17-Aug-2026
• Due Date: 05-Oct-2026
• Completion Date: 17-Aug-2026
• Ref Project: ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08) - Environmental Engineering (EE); Assessment of mobile network energy efficiency

Overview

kSIST FprES 203 228 V1.5.0:2026, established by SIST and developed jointly with ETSI and ITU, sets out standardized metrics and assessed methods for evaluating the energy efficiency of mobile networks. The standard, aligned with the ongoing evolution of mobile telecommunication technologies including GSM, UMTS, LTE, and 5G New Radio (NR), provides guidelines that are critical for network operators, manufacturers, and regulators seeking to improve the sustainability of mobile network infrastructure. By focusing on practical assessment methodologies, the standard contributes to more energy-efficient mobile network deployments and operations, supporting global sustainability initiatives.

Key Topics

• Scope of Assessment
  The document defines the boundaries and topologies for assessing mobile network energy efficiency, primarily focusing on the radio access segments-such as base stations, backhaul systems, controllers, and supplementary site equipment.

• Network Classification
  Networks are analyzed according to topological, geographical, or demographic boundaries. This enables practical energy efficiency assessments of urban, suburban, and rural networks, as well as city-wide, national, or operator-level networks.

• Energy Efficiency Metrics
  The standard specifies a range of metrics for network assessment:

  • Energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission metrics
  • Performance metrics such as data volume, coverage area, and latency
  • Energy efficiency indicators based on data handling, coverage, latency, subscribers, and network slicing (especially relevant for 5G and beyond)

• Measurement and Extrapolation Methods
  Practical procedures are outlined for measuring energy efficiency in operational settings. Simplified methods allow for partial network measurements and statistical extrapolations to total network evaluations, considering a network's unique demographic, topographic, and climatic context.

• Assessment Reporting
  The document mandates structured reporting to ensure consistency and comparability, including documentation of the network under test, measurement results, and context for extrapolation.

Applications

kSIST FprES 203 228 delivers practical value for a wide range of stakeholders:

• Mobile Network Operators (MNOs):
  Apply standardized assessment tools to benchmark, monitor, and improve network energy efficiency across technologies from GSM to 5G NR. Evaluations can be scaled from small sub-networks to entire national networks using the methodology.

• Equipment Manufacturers:
  Ensure compliance of base stations, controllers, and supporting infrastructure with internationally recognized energy efficiency principles.

• Regulatory Bodies:
  Reference consistent, transparent energy performance metrics and evaluation methods when developing or enforcing telecom and environmental regulations.

• Sustainability Officers & Energy Auditors:
  Use detailed metrics and structured reporting to assess mobile network energy impacts and identify opportunities for optimization and carbon footprint reduction.

• Network Planners & Engineers:
  Inform network design choices by comparing energy efficiency performance across different topologies, climates, and demographic zones.

Related Standards

This standard should be considered in conjunction with related documentation to achieve a comprehensive approach to mobile network energy efficiency:

• ETSI ES 202 706: Environmental Engineering; Metrics and measurement methods for energy efficiency of wireless access network equipment
• ETSI TR 103 117: Principles for mobile network-level energy efficiency
• ETSI EN 303 471: Energy efficiency methodology for Network Function Virtualisation (NFV)
• ITU-T Recommendation L.1331: Assessment of mobile network energy efficiency (technically equivalent)
• ETSI TS 132 405 / 128 310 / 128 552: Performance and energy management standards for UMTS, LTE, and 5G

These documents provide complementary guidelines on equipment-level assessments, broader sustainability metrics, and related industry best practices, supporting a holistic strategy for energy efficient, low-impact mobile network operation and development.

Keywords: mobile network energy efficiency, sustainable telecommunication networks, 5G energy consumption, ETSI standards, mobile network assessment, GSM, UMTS, LTE, energy performance metrics, green ICT.

Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)

ETSI STANDARD
Environmental Engineering (EE);
Assessment of mobile network energy efficiency

2 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)

Reference
RES/EE-EEPS69
Keywords
5G, access, base station, energy efficiency, GSM,
LTE, mobile, network, radio, UMTS
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3 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Modal verbs terminology . 5
Executive summary . 5
Introduction . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 References . 7
2.1 Normative references . 7
2.2 Informative references . 8
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations . 9
3.1 Terms . 9
3.2 Symbols . 10
3.3 Abbreviations . 10
4 Network under test definition . 12
4.1 Introduction . 12
4.2 Test parameter categorization . 14
4.3 Network classification . 15
4.3.0 Introduction of network classification . 15
4.3.1 Demography . 15
4.3.2 Topography . 16
4.3.3 Climate zones . 16
4.3.4 Additional classification classes . 17
5 Metrics for energy efficiency assessment. 18
5.0 Introduction of clause . 18
5.1 Energy Consumption and GHG emission metrics . 18
5.1.1 Energy consumption metrics. 18
5.1.2 GHG emission metrics . 20
5.2 Performance metrics . 21
5.2.1 Data Volume . 21
5.2.2 Coverage Area . 21
5.2.3 Latency . 22
5.2.4 Massive machine type networks . 22
5.3 Mobile Network Energy efficiency metrics . 22
5.3.1 Mobile Network data Energy Efficiency . 22
5.3.2 Mobile Network coverage Energy Efficiency. 23
5.3.3 Mobile Network latency based Energy Efficiency . 23
5.3.4 Mobile Network subscriber Energy Efficiency. 23
5.3.5 Mobile Network slice Energy Efficiency . 23
5.3.6 Mobile Network Energy Efficiency with quality factors . 23
6 Measurement of energy efficiency . 24
6.0 Introduction of clause . 24
6.1 Time duration of the measurement . 24
6.2 Measurement procedures . 25
6.2.1 Measurement of Energy Consumption . 25
6.2.2 Measurement of capacity . 25
6.2.3 Determination of coverage area . 26
6.2.3.0 Introduction . 26
6.2.3.1 Geographic coverage area . 26
6.2.3.2 Designated coverage area . 26
6.2.3.3 Coverage quality . 26
6.2.4 Measurement of latency . 28
6.2.5 Measurement of the number of subscribers . 29
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4 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
7 Extrapolation for overall networks . 29
7.0 Extrapolation approach . 29
7.1 Extrapolation method . 30
7.1.0 Introduction of extrapolation method . 30
7.1.1 Statistical information about Demography . 30
7.1.2 Statistical information about Topography . 30
7.1.3 Statistical information about Climate zones . 30
7.2 Extrapolation reporting tables . 30
7.2.0 Introduction of extrapolation reporting tables. 30
7.2.1 Reporting extrapolation based on Demography . 31
7.2.2 Reporting extrapolation based on Topography . 31
7.2.3 Reporting extrapolation based on Climate zones . 31
8 Assessment report . 32
8.0 Introduction of assessment report . 32
8.1 Report of Network Area under test . 32
8.2 Report of sites under test . 33
8.3 Report of Site measurement . 35
9 Implementation guidelines . 35
Annex A (informative): Implementation examples . 37
A.1 Implementation examples. 37
A.2 Examples of reporting data . 37
History . 42

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5 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
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Foreword
This final draft ETSI Standard (ES) has been produced by ETSI Technical Committee Environmental Engineering (EE),
and is now submitted for the ETSI Membership Approval Procedure (MAP).
The present document was developed jointly by ETSI TC EE and ITU-T Study Group 5. It will be published
respectively by ITU and ETSI as Recommendation ITU-T L.1331 [i.4] and ETSI ES 203 228 (the present document),
which are technically-equivalent.
Moreover the present document has been developed in collaboration with 3GPP SA5 and RAN3; GSMA has also given
valuable suggestions and contributions.
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "shall", "shall not", "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and
"cannot" are to be interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of
provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
Executive summary
The present document aims to provide a better understanding of the energy efficiency of mobile networks. The focus of
the present document is on the metrics and methods of assessing energy efficiency in operational networks.
The networks considered are those whose size and scale could be defined by topologic, geographic or demographic
boundaries.
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6 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
The present document explains how to extrapolate the measurements made on partial networks to the level of the total
network. Such a simplified approach is proposed as a way of making approximate energy efficiency evaluations at the
level of network elements and cannot therefore be considered sufficient for the entire network operation including, for
example, transport.
Introduction
The present document deals with the definition of metrics and methods to measure energy performance of Mobile
Networks and adopts an approach based on the measurement of such performance on small networks, for feasibility and
simplicity purposes. Such simplified approach is proposed for approximate energy efficiency evaluations and cannot be
considered as a reference for planning evaluation purposes throughout the network operation process. The same
approach was introduced also in ETSI TR 103 117 [i.1]; the measurements in testing laboratories of the efficiency of
the Base Stations is the topic treated in ETSI ES 202 706 [i.2].
As the Energy Efficiency is a context-dependent metric, the present document provides the necessary clarification on
the network classification (clause 4) and context of the network under assessment, as well as the implementation
guidelines (clause 9) for such an assessment.
The present document provides also a method to extrapolate the assessment of energy efficiency to wider networks
(clause 7).
The general outcome of the application of the method specified in the present document is based on the "Assessment
report" introduced in clause 8. An example of application of the method is also given in annex A.
It is acknowledged that energy efficiency, which is the scope of this recommendation, is only one aspect of
environmental sustainability; in addition, sustainability also encompasses social and economic aspects, but they are not
in the scope here.
The present document was developed jointly by ETSI TC EE and ITU-T Study Group 5 and published by ITU and
ETSI as Recommendation ITU-T L.1331 [i.4] and ETSI Standard ETSI ES 203 228 (the present document)
respectively, which are technically equivalent.
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7 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
1 Scope
The present document is aimed at defining the topology and level of analysis to assess the energy efficiency of mobile
networks. Within the scope of the present document there is also the focus on the most energy consuming part, which is
the radio access part of the mobile networks, and namely there are radio base stations, backhauling systems, radio
controllers and other infrastructure radio site equipment. The covered technologies are GSM, UMTS, LTE and 5G New
Radio (NR). In particular the present document defines metrics for mobile network energy efficiency and methods for
assessing (and measuring) energy efficiency in operational networks. The purpose of the present document is to allow
better comprehension of networks energy efficiency, in particular considering the networks' evolution in different
periods in time.
Aiming to consider also the slicing approach of the networks from 5G onwards the metrics are extended to the latency
of the network itself related to the energy consumed, additionally to the metrics based on traffic and on coverage,
already existing for legacy networks and still valid.
The present document deals with both a homogeneous and heterogeneous "network" considering a network whose size
and scale could be defined by topologic, geographic or demographic boundaries. For networks defined by topologic
boundaries, a possible example of a network covered by the present document consists of a control node (whenever
applicable), its supported access nodes as well as the related network elements. Networks could be defined by
geographic boundaries, such as city-wide, national or continental networks and could be defined by demographic
boundaries, such as urban or rural networks.
The present document applies to the so-called "partial" networks for which a measurement method is also
recommended. The present document extends the measurements in partial networks to wider so-called "total" networks
energy efficiency estimations (i.e. the network in a geographic area, the network in a whole country, the network of a
MNO, etc.).
Terminal (end-user) equipment is outside the scope of the present document and is not considered in the energy
efficiency measurement.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found in the
ETSI docbox.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long-term validity.
The following referenced documents are necessary for the application of the present document.
[1] ETSI TS 125 104: "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Base Station (BS)
radio transmission and reception (FDD) (3GPP TS 25.104)".
[2] ETSI TS 136 104: "LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Base Station
(BS) radio transmission and reception (3GPP TS 36.104)".
[3] ETSI TS 132 425 (V12.0.0): "LTE; Telecommunication management; Performance Management
(PM); Performance measurements Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network
(E-UTRAN) (3GPP TS 32.425 version 12.0.0 Release 12)".
[4] ETSI TS 132 412 (V11.1.0): "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Telecommunication management;
Performance Management (PM) Integration Reference Point (IRP): Information Service (IS)
(3GPP TS 32.412 version 11.1.0 Release 11)".
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8 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
[5] ETSI TS 123 203 (V12.7.0): "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Policy and charging control architecture
(3GPP TS 23.203 version 12.7.0 Release 12)".
[6] ETSI TS 136 314: "LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Layer 2 -
Measurements (3GPP TS 36.314)".
[7] ETSI TS 152 402 (V11.0.0): "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
Telecommunication management; Performance Management (PM); Performance measurements -
GSM (3GPP TS 52.402 version 11.0.0 Release 11)".
[8] ETSI TS 132 405 (V11.1.1): "Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE; Telecommunication management;
Performance Management (PM); Performance measurements; Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (UTRAN) (3GPP TS 32.405 version 11.1.1 Release 11)".
[9] ETSI ES 202 336-12: "Environmental Engineering (EE); Monitoring and control interface for
infrastructure equipment (power, cooling and building environment systems used in
telecommunication networks); Part 12: ICT equipment power, energy and environmental
parameters monitoring information model".
[10] ISO/IEC 17025:2017: "General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration
laboratories".
[11] ETSI EN 303 471: "Environmental Engineering (EE); Energy Efficiency measurement
methodology and metrics for Network Function Virtualisation (NFV)".
[12] Recommendation ITU-R M.2410: "Minimum requirements related to technical performance for
IMT-2020 radio interface(s)".
[13] ETSI TS 128 554: "5G; Management and orchestration; 5G end to end Key Performance
Indicators (KPI) (3GPP TS 28.554)".
[14] ETSI TS 128 552 (V16.6.0): "5G; Management and orchestration; 5G performance measurements
(3GPP TS 28.552 version 16.6.0 Release 16)".
[15] ETSI TS 128 310: "LTE; 5G; Management and orchestration; Energy efficiency of 5G (3GPP
TS 28.310)".
[16] ETSI TS 132 450: "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); LTE;
Telecommunication management; Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for Evolved Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN): Definitions (3GPP TS 32.450)".
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long-term validity.
The following referenced documents may be useful in implementing an ETSI deliverable or add to the reader's
understanding, but are not required for conformance to the present document.
[i.1] ETSI TR 103 117: "Environmental Engineering (EE); Principles for Mobile Network level energy
efficiency".
[i.2] ETSI ES 202 706 (all parts): "Environmental Engineering (EE); Metrics and measurement method
for energy efficiency of wireless access network equipment".
[i.3] ETSI GS NFV 003: "Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV); Terminology for Main Concepts in
NFV".
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9 Final draft ETSI ES 203 228 V1.5.0 (2026-08)
[i.4] Recommendation ITU-T L.1331: "Assessment of mobile network energy efficiency".
[i.5] FAO Soils Portal: "Harmonized World Soil Database v 1.2".
[i.6] Jürgen Grieser, René Gommes, Stephen Cofield and Michele Bernardi: "Data sources for FAO
worldmaps of Koeppen climatologies and climatic net primary production", 2006.
[i.7] Recommendation ITU-T L.1350: "Energy efficiency metrics of a base station site".
[i.8] Recommendation ITU-T L.1351: "Energy efficiency measurement methodology for base station
sites".
[i.9] Recommendation ITU-T L.1450: "Methodologies for the assessment of the environmental impact
of the information and communication technology sector".
[i.10] Recommendation ITU-T L.1333: "Carbon data intensity for network energy performance
monitoring".
[i.11] The Greenhouse Gar protocol: "A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard".
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms apply:
backhaul equipment: equipment used to connect base stations to the core network, or to other BSs
Base Station (BS): generic term used for network component which serves one cell or more cells and interfaces the
user terminal (through air interface) and a radio access network infrastructure
distributed RBS: BS architecture which contains Remote Radio Heads (RRH) close to the antenna element and a
central element connecting BS to network infrastructure
end-to-end latency: time that takes to transfer a given piece of information from a source to a destination, measured at
the communication interface, from the moment it is transmitted by the source to the moment it is successfully received
at the destination
Energy Efficiency (EE): within ICT and especially for mobile networks, the relation between the useful output (similar
to functional unit) and the energy consumption to realize that functionality
NOTE: For an electrical device, the EE is the percentage of total energy input consumed in useful work and not
wasted as useless heat.
energy saving feature: feature which contributes to decreasing the energy consumption compared to the case when the
feature is not implemented
integrated BS: BS architecture in which all BS elements are located close to each other for example in one or two
cabinets
NOTE: The integrated BS architecture may include TMA close to antenna.
Mobile Network (MN): set of equipment from the radio access network or sub-network that are relevant for the
assessment of energy efficiency
mobile network coverage energy efficiency: ratio between the area covered by the network in the Mobile Network
under investigation and the energy consumption
mobile network data energy efficiency: ratio between the performance indicator based on Data Volume and the
energy consumption when assessed during the same time frame
mobile network energy consumption: overall energy consumption of equipment included in the MN under
investigation
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mobile network energy efficiency: energy efficiency of a mobile network
Mobile Network Operator (MNO): operator that manages one or more mobile networks
mobile network operator penetration ratio: percentage of traffic served by an MNO in the area where it is active
mobile network performance delivered: performance indicator of the MN under investigation, defined as the data
volume delivered by the mobile network under investigation during the time frame of the energy consumption
assessment
energy consumption: power consumed by a device to achieve an intended application performance
radio access network: telecommunications network in which the access to the network (connection between user
terminal and network) is implemented without the use of wires and that is part of GERAN, UTRAN, E-UTRA or 5G
NR networks defined by 3GPP
Site Energy Efficiency (SEE): metric used to determine the energy efficiency of a telecommunication site
NOTE: SEE is defined by the ratio of "IT equipment energy" and "Total site energy", which generally includes
rectifiers, cooling, storage, security and IT equipment. For datacentres, the "Total site energy" more
globally includes building load, powering equipment (e.g. switchgear, Uninterruptible Power Supply
(UPS), battery backup), cooling equipment (e.g. chillers, Computer Room Air Conditioning unit
(CRAC)) and IT equipment energy.
telecommunication network: network operated under a license granted by a national telecommunications authority,
which provides telecommunications between Network Termination Points (NTPs)
Virtualised Network Function (VNF): See ETSI GS NFV 003 [i.3].
3.2 Symbols
Void.
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
3GPP 3G (mobile) Partnership Project
AAOP Accessibility and Availability Obligation Profile
BH BackHaul
BS Base Station
CC Central Cloud
CoA Coverage Area
CoA_des designated coverage area as designed by network planning
CoA_geo total geographical area under investigation and within the operator's license agreement
CoA_Qdes quality factor describing how well users are covered within the coverage area
CoA Coverage Area Mobile Network
MN
COP Coverage Obligation Profile
CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network
CS Circuit Switched
CS/PS Circuit Switched/Packet Switched
DC Data Center
DCA Designed Coverage Area
DL DownLink
DP Dominant Penetration
DU Dense Urban
DV Data Volume
DV Data Volume of the Mobile Network
MN
E2E End To End
EC Energy Consumption
EC Energy Consumption of the Mobile Network
MN
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EC Energy Consumption of the Site
SI
EDC Edge Cloud
EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution
EE Energy Efficiency of the Mobile Network
MN
EF Emission Factor
eMBB enhanced Mobile BroadBand
eNB evolved Node B, the LTE logical base station
E-RAB E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer
E-UTRA Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
E-UTRAN Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FWA Fixed Wireless Access
GERAN GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network
GHG GreenHouse Gas
gNB next-generation Node B, the 5G NR logical base station
GSM Global System for Mobile communication
GSMA GSM Association
HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request
ICT Information Communications Technology
IP Ingress Protection
ITU International Telecommunications Union
ITU-T International Telecommunications Union - Telecommunication
KPI Key Performance Indicator
LC Local Cloud
LTE Long Term Evolution
MBB Mobile BroadBand
MDT Minimization of Drive Tests
MMTC Massive Machine Type Communication
MN Mobile Network
MNO Mobile Network Operator
MP Minor Penetration
NA Not Applicable
NDP Non Dominant Penetration
NR New Radio
O&M Operation & Maintenance
PDCP Packet Data Control Protocol
PDF Probability Distribution Function
PofP Point of Presence
PPA Power Purchase Agreement
PS Packet Switched
PSL Packet Switched Large packages dominating
PSS Packet Switched Small packages dominating
QCI QoS Class Identifier
QoS Quality of Services
RA Radio Access
RAB Radio Access Bearer
RAN Radio Access Network
RAP Radio Access Point
RAT Radio Access Technology
RC Remote Controller
RF Radio Frequency
RNC Radio Network Controller
RRC Radio Resource Control
RRH Remote Radio Head
RU Rural
SDU Service Data Unit
SE Switching Equipment
SEE Site Energy Efficiency
SI Site Infrastructure
SINR Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio
SU Sub Urban
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TCO Total Cost of Ownership
TE Telco Equipment
TMA Tower Mounted Amplifier
TTI Time Transmission Interval
U Urban
UE User Equipment
UE-BS User Equipment to Base Station
UL UpLink
UP User Plane
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service
UN United Nations
URLLC Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications
USA United States of America
UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
VNF Virtualised Network Function
VNFS Virtualised Network Function Servers
VoLTE Voice over LTE
VoNR Voice over NR
Wh Watt-hour
4 Network under test definition
4.1 Introduction
The Mobile Network (MN) under investigation shall include all the equipment that is necessary to run the network or
sub-network. Equipment to be included in the Mobile Network under investigation:
• Base Stations (see ETSI TS 125 104 [1] and ETSI TS 136 104 [2]):
- Wide area BS.
- Medium range BS.
- Local Area BS.
- Home BS.
NOTE: Home BS (and Wi-Fi access points) are not dealt with in the present document, being possibly considered
for future versions.
• Site equipment (air conditioners, rectifiers/batteries, fixed network equipment, etc.).
• Multi-Access EDGE equipment.
• Backhaul equipment required to interconnect the BS used in the assessment with the core network.
• Radio Controller (RC).
• Gateways to connect to the Cloud.
Energy consumption and energy efficiency measurements of individual mobile network elements are described in
several standards (for example ETSI ES 202 706-1 [i.2] and ETSI ES 202 706-2 [i.2] for radio base stations). The
present document describes energy consumption and MN energy efficiency measurements in operational networks.
As a complete and detailed energy consumption measurement of the complete network of a country or MNO is in most
cases impossible or economically not viable, the total network is split into a small number of networks with limited size
("sub-networks").
These sub-networks are defined to represent some specific characteristics, for example:
• capacity limited networks representing urban and dense urban networks;
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• sub-urban networks with high requirements for coverage and capacity;
• rural networks, which are usually coverage limited.
The size and scale of the sub-networks are defined by topologic, geographic or demographic boundaries. For networks
defined by topologic boundaries, a possible example of a network covered by the present document consists of a Radio
controller (whenever applicable), its supported access nodes as well as the related network elements. Networks could be
defined by geographic boundaries, such as city-wide, national or continental networks and could be defined by
demographic boundaries, such as urban or rural networks.
The sub-networks analysed might consist of macro-only base stations or heterogeneous networks or whatever is actually
implemented in real networks. A description of the sub-network general layout is represented in the Figure 1. The
sub-network may represent an instantiation of a network slicing, in case of 5G networks and beyond.
The tests defined in the present document for sub-networks provide the basis to estimate energy efficiency for large
networks of one MNO or within an entire country, applying the extrapolation methods described in clause 7.

Figure 1: An illustration of a network under test definition
The functions outlined in Figure 1 could also be implemented in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN).
The generic layout design for the cloud sites is defined in Figure 2.
Edge Cloud Radio Access
Central Cloud
Not Included Included
Ant.
Remote Access
VNF Server (SV)
Central Servers (CS)
IP Core Point (RAP)
Network
Equipment Remote Access
VNF Server (SV)
Switching Eq. (SE)
Point (RAP)
Remote Access
Other Telecom Eq.
VNF Server (SV)
Point (RAP)
(TE)
Figure 2: Generic CRAN architecture layout
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The Radio Access (RA) domain is consisting of the Remote Access Points (RAP) dedicated to the CRAN under
investigation. A typical RAP would include the radio, baseband and optical transport equipment. It performs real time
eNB/gNB tasks (e.g. Scheduler). It is installed near the transmitting antennas.
The Edge Cloud (EDC) domain is consisting of small datacentres dedicated to telecommunication functions, including
Virtualised Network Functions (VNF) Servers (VNFS) used by the CRAN under investigation. A typical EDC
datacentre would perform non-real time eNB/gNB tasks, such as Operations, Administration and Maintenance (O&M).
The Central Cloud (CC) domain is consisting of a multi-server Datacentre (DC) including Central Servers (CS),
Switching Equipment (SE) and other Telco Equipment (TE) if needed. Central Cloud datacentres are usually very far
from most of the served EDC.
Cloud sites may make use of Containerized VNFs.
4.2 Test parameter categorization
Metrics used for the energy efficiency assessment of mobile networks require the definition and collection of a range of
parameters and variables. These are separated into two categories:
• Parameters and variables required to calculate the network energy efficiency.
• Parameters needed to allow network energy efficiency evaluation.
The first category describes a set of network variables as described in clause 5 (energy consumption, delivered bits,
coverage) to be used to calculate the energy efficiency.
The second category includes parameters which are not directly required in the energy efficiency calculation. These
parameters describe the network characteristics, such as geographical conditions, population density, coverage area,
regulatory obligations, climate zones, etc. and are used to interpolate from the measured sub-network to a larger
network as described in clause 7. These parameters can be used to interpret variations in energy efficiency results of
different networks. Finally, for a given sub-network under assessment, this second category of parameters is not
changing as frequently or dynamically as what the network variables track (e.g. traffic patterns, radio conditions,
energy-saving feature strategy and application):
• topography does not change;
• demography and climate zones changes very slowly and regulatory requirements;
• new deployment, as well as service usages do rather change in a step-wise approach.
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Table 1: Test parameter categorization
Category Parameter Remarks
1 EC Measured network energy consumption.
MN
1 Emission factor Required to calculate GHG emission, as defined in clause 5.1.2.
1 Capacity (DV) As defined in clauses 5.2.1 and 6.2.2.
1 Coverage area As defined in clauses 5.2.2 and 6.2.3.
1 Latency As defined in clauses 5.2.3 and 6.2.4.
2 Demography Population density as defined in clause 4.3.1.
2 Topography As defined in clause 4.3.2.
2 Climate zones As defined in clause 4.3.3.
2 Operator penetration class Describes the dominant, non-dominant or minor percentage of traffic served
by an MNO in the area under assessment.
See clause 4.3.4 and Table 5 for more details.
2 CS/PS data ratio Describes the fraction of CS traffic vs. PS traffic in the network.
See clause 4.3.4 and Table 6 for more details.
2 Mobile broadband/Fixed Describes the fraction of Mobile BroadBand (MBB) traffic vs. Fixed Wireless
wireless access traffic Access (FWA) traffic in the network.
share See clause 4.3.4 and Table 7 for more details.
2 Coverage Obligation Determined from the spectrum license conditions of the network under test, as
Profile (COP) published by the relevant National Regulatory Authority. See clause 4.3.4 and
Table 8 for more details.
2 Accessibility and Determined from the applicable national QoS framework and the spectrum
Availability Obligation license conditions of the network under test, as published by the relevant
Profile (AAOP) National Regulatory Authority. See clause 4.3.4 and Table 9 for more details.

4.3 Network classification
4.3.0 Introduction of network classification
To allow an extrapolation from the measured sub-networks ("partial" networks) to a complete network ("total" or
"overall" networks), the test areas shall be classified into
...