telecommunications
O2 cell phone mast supplies itself with electricity
The Telefónica (O2) transmission mast in the Vogelsberg district in central Hesse. photo
© Quirin Leppert/O2 Telefónica/dpa
Telecommunications companies are rapidly expanding their cell phone networks, and radio systems are also being built away from settlements. But how are the cell phone towers supplied with electricity? O2 takes unusual paths.
The telecommunications provider Telefónica (O2) has put a cell phone mast into operation that communicates with itself Power supplied. The system, powered by solar modules and a fuel cell, was built between forest and meadows in a remote area in Kirtorf in the Vogelsberg district of Hesse, as the company in Munich announced. There was previously a 4G dead spot there, but now there is 4G and 5G reception there.
The system is good for climate protection and comparatively cheap. The company said it would have cost “a significant six-figure euro amount” to lay power cables to the location. That would exceed the costs for the location.
The system is energy self-sufficient: the solar power is stored and used in a battery, and on days with little sunshine, a biomethanol fuel cell takes over the supply. You save a good 13,000 kilowatt hours per year that would otherwise have to be obtained via power lines.
O2 head of technology Mallik Rao spoke of a prime example of efficient mobile phone coverage in rural areas: “A location without electricity, but with lots of energy and 5G for our customers.”
The concept of such a radio system is not entirely new. Deutsche Telekom started in 2022 with a “mobile radio without a socket”: Since then, there has been a radio system in Mönsheim in the northern Black Forest that also does not require any electricity from outside. This has performed very well so far, said a company spokeswoman. Germany’s third major mobile phone provider Vodafone, however, does not yet have an energy self-sufficient mobile phone location in this country.