Lebo Masalesa, Managing Executive: Mobile Networks at Telkom.
Telkom is making solid progress on its net‑zero strategy, which not only greens its network, but also builds a more resilient infrastructure that supports its universal access goals.
This is according to Lebo Masalesa, Managing Executive: Mobile Networks at Telkom, who is spearheading the telco’s network modernisation programme and championing sustainability across its network infrastructure.
Masalesa says Telkom’s overall strategy is data‑led, and this informs its green initiatives. This means the company places equal emphasis on providing reliable, resilient data services and on managing the impact of its operations on the environment. Telkom operates data centres nationally and some 8 000 base stations across the country, all of which consume significant power. Since 2022, it has reduced combined Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions from its network by 32% through a range of interventions.
This progress supports the Telkom group’s aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 and net‑zero emissions by 2040.
Growing data demand drives up power consumption
Masalesa notes that growing demand for data and the evolution of AI are driving ever‑higher loads on the network. Data traffic grows at around 20% a year, and for every byte carried on the network, particularly on the radio access side, there is a corresponding amount of power consumed. With 8 000 base stations, each drawing on average around five kilowatts, the impact on both the environment and the cost of running the network is substantial, and those costs ultimately affect customers.
“Our ethos is to leave no one behind in terms of connectivity,” he says. “As the go‑to network for reliable, reasonably priced data products, we have to be both sustainable and efficient in how we produce every megabyte of data.”
Smarter approaches to reducing power consumption
Under Masalesa’s leadership, Telkom is implementing smarter network solutions that enhance performance and reliability for millions of users while reducing environmental impact. Telkom has embedded sustainability into its core network strategy, leveraging advanced technologies and data‑driven approaches to create intelligent, adaptive networks that meet the evolving needs of South African consumers and businesses.
These interventions include aggressively increasing the share of renewable energy in Telkom’s power mix, underpinned by a new one‑megawatt solar plant in Centurion. This plant supports a major data centre at the Centurion campus and has significantly reduced diesel consumption at the site.
There are, however, practical hurdles to switching the nationwide base station and mast infrastructure to renewables. “Telkom does not own most of our masts; we lease space on towers and on the ground,” Masalesa explains. “Space is limited, and a meaningful solar installation needs a sizeable footprint. So, moving to renewables is a work in progress, with priority given to areas where grid power is unreliable. Even at these targeted sites, renewables make a big difference in cutting both our carbon footprint and our costs. We also have group‑level initiatives such as power wheeling, where we buy renewable power in regions with abundant solar resources.”
Adding renewables also boosts network reliability. “When there’s a power failure, we rely on batteries for backup, but if we also have a solar installation on site, that solar power helps fill the gap left by the grid and directly supports network availability and reliability,” says Masalesa. “Improving our sustainability is not just about installing solar panels or using renewable energy sources; it’s about how we use technology and the level of innovation that ensures we operate more efficiently.”
Modernising for energy‑efficient connectivity
“We are modernising our infrastructure for fundamental energy‑efficiency gains,” Masalesa notes. Efficiency measures include hybrid power solutions, modular designs that allow flexible capacity expansion and advanced site‑energy management systems.
“In a traditional network, you might have an 80‑watt radio transmitting at full power all the time,” he explains. “In partnership with Huawei, we’ve deployed AI technologies that determine when high transmit power is actually needed and dynamically adjust power levels based on demand at each base station. Over a 24‑hour period, a base station may have only two real peak periods; outside those windows there is no need to transmit at maximum power. By eliminating unnecessary power consumption, we can move from 100% power usage to less than 50% in some scenarios. This is one of many measures we’ve implemented to reduce carbon emissions while keeping connectivity affordable.”
By integrating sustainability into its core network strategy, Telkom is setting new benchmarks for the industry and showing how telecoms innovation can go hand‑in‑hand with environmental stewardship.
Despite the significant progress already made, Masalesa believes Telkom has only started to tap the full potential of its approach. “The idea behind our strategy is that, over time, Telkom will drastically reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and operate ever more efficiently and sustainably,” he says.
