Here's how to evolve network benchmarking beyond speed, coverage

In today’s digital age, the best networks are no longer simply fast and reliable — they also need to be energy-efficient and sustainable. As demand for connectivity continues to surge, maximizing network energy efficiency and sustainability performance without compromising user experience is a key imperative for communications service providers (CSPs).

Network performance benchmarking isn’t new. However, as network sustainability becomes a priority, benchmarking practices need to evolve beyond speed and coverage.

Comprehensive benchmarking is the key to striking the right balance. And truly effective benchmarking requires CSPs to evaluate both network energy and performance indicators.

Challenges to effective benchmarking

Before you can truly optimize your network, there are a few common challenges to overcome in assessing network energy performance.

For one, accurately benchmarking the energy consumption and efficiency of mobile networks requires information that comes from a variety of network components, which may not always be readily available.

A holistic view that incorporates everything from active telecom equipment like radios and baseband units to site-support systems is essential in painting an accurate picture of energy consumption within the network.

The sheer volume of data required for benchmarking also presents a significant challenge, requiring robust processing capabilities to collate, analyze, and extract actionable insights.

Additionally, utility power meters only provide site-level understanding of energy consumption, and this level of granularity does not provide actionable information that can be used to manage energy consumption.

The building blocks of effective benchmarking

The first step to effective benchmarking is to identify relevant metrics and establish baselines to allow for continuous evaluation and target setting so progress can be tracked accurately over time. After all, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. And there are a number of different ways to do this, including direct measurement through counters, or more indirect methods that estimate energy consumption based on multiple measured variables. The most common metric is how much energy in kilowatt-hours (kWh) is used to transmit 1 gigabyte (GB) of data – but that doesn’t take into account user experience and can be overly simplistic if you’re trying to develop a comprehensive strategy that balances network performance, user experience and sustainability.

Once you have your measurement regime established, energy data can be captured, analyzed and reported, enabling informed decision-making and performance evaluation.

Target setting is also crucial. Setting ambitious but achievable targets based on network evolution, energy consumption, and sustainability objectives can keep CSPs on track toward energy performance goals that align with broader network ambitions.

Finally, seeking a balance of optimizing for energy performance while maintaining user experience is paramount. And here it’s important to define what we mean by user experience: CSPs should prioritize benchmarking that takes into consideration both quantitative and qualitative metrics.

With these building blocks in place, CSPs gain a foundation for a comprehensive view of energy performance that can inform key decisions when it comes to planning for network modernization strategies, including hardware and software upgrades and the deployment of new tools like AI and ML for energy optimization.

If done correctly, these elements can create a self-improving cycle where opportunities for better performance are identified, optimized through the use of AI and machine learning, and measured for effectiveness to bolster further improvement.

The road to better performance

It’s time to re-evaluate the definition of the best network. In an environment where providers are facing demands from many different groups, mobile networks must balance performance, user experience and energy efficiency .