Do customers have to be prepared for restrictions?
In the energy crisis, many people in Germany are already afraid of the cold months. But not only consumers need to see where they can save. Prices are also rising for companies. So Vodafone wants to activate the economy mode for the mobile network soon. What does this mean for Vodafone customers?
Vodafone is testing economy mode for the German network
The pressure to save wherever possible is extremely high in the energy crisis. Consumers, for example, have a number of levers in their own homes that they can use to save electricity or gas and thus costs. This also applies to companies. Vodafone has announced that the Operation of the mobile network great savings potential sees.
In the future, Vodafone wants to put its own network into “dynamic energy-saving mode” (source: Vodafone). Mobile radio cells should not be operated permanently with the highest possible performance, but instead be smartly controlled automatically based on needs. So if little data is flowing at the moment, the radio cells should regulate their power down and thus save energy.
“Just like I don’t turn the heating on full blast when I’m not at home, it is it makes sense at many mobile radio stations to reduce the energy requirement when there is no data traffic in the network,” explains Tanja Richter, head of technology at Vodafone Germany. According to projections, Vodafone could save up to 30,000 kilowatt hours of energy per day – roughly the daily consumption of 3,000 average households.
Despite energy-saving mode: no differences for Vodafone customers
The idea is not new: Vodafone has so far used smart network control at night when there is little activity on the network anyway. Saving operation during the day is currently being tested at around 100 locations. According to Richter, it is important that Users experience no losses. A minimum available bandwidth of 100 Mbit/s would also be achieved in economy mode. If more is required, the radio cells increase their power.
You can keep your money together not only by saving energy:
The move by Vodafone should therefore not be a reason for customers to worry about their mobile connection. Network failures or dead spots are not to be expected anyway, since the radio cells are not switched off but throttled. In addition, the Federal Network Agency accompanies the Vodafone test as a supervisor. Because whether economy mode or not, Vodafone still has to continue to meet the coverage requirements.
