“Our greatest contribution to overcoming the world’s sustainability challenges is through the solutions and technology we develop and provide,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia. “Nokia was first to introduce a liquid-cooled base station with the 2G, 3G and 4G base stations with Elisa in Finland. Now we have demonstrated the world’s first liquid-cooled AirScale 5G base station in commercial operations, making liquid cooling a reality for all network generations. This innovative solution supports operators in their quest to be more environmentally responsible while allowing them to achieve significant cost savings.”

Liquid-cooled devices are more compact, and are able to run in more confined areas, thus opening more opportunities for operators where space is an issue. And with Nokia delivering zero-emission products to over 150 customers worldwide, it remains committed to decreasing emissions from its operations by 41 percent by 2030. 

And despite the energy consumption of network operators expected to increase with the roll-out of 5G, there are a number of environmental benefits to 5G that experts believe will offset any increased in energy consumption at the point of delivery.