11 April 2022

Nokia announces the commercial availability of its liquid cooling AirScale portfolio. The Finnish firm says the “first-of-its-kind solution” is designed to make radio networks more sustainable and cost-efficient by reducing the energy required to cool a base station.

The liquid-cooled AirScale baseband solution can, Nokia says, accommodate any liquid-cooled common or capacity plug-in unit and supports all radio access technologies from 2G to 5G. It supports the reduction of base station-related CO2 emissions by up to 80%.

Nokia’s Liquid Cooling solution is also almost completely silent and maintenance-free making it ideal for apartment buildings, whereas more traditional air-cooling systems are typically noisy and require regular maintenance. Liquid is much more efficient in the transmission and transfer of heat. Nokia’s solution carries the captured waste heat produced by the base station during operation. This can then be circulated and reused for other purposes. For example, it can be redirected to a building’s heating system for free, at a price, or even traded.

Here’s a comment from a happy client: “AT&T is committed to tackling climate change, enhancing the efficiency of our network, and reducing our operational carbon footprint,” says Joe Taylor, vice president implementation, provisioning & optimisation at AT&T. “We’re pleased to work with Nokia as we take a more sustainable path and to trial its liquid-cooled base station in our network. We firmly believe that sustainability is one of the biggest factors impacting the world right now and is a key differentiator in business. We’re eager to continue aligning with like-minded, innovative companies like Nokia that are developing ground-breaking solutions to combat climate change.” nokia.com