V. CONCLUSION
The number of internet users is fastly increasing and these users demand increasing bit rates. Meanwhile, the carbon foot-print of ICT has to be reduced. Saving power in telecommunication networks is becoming an important challenge. Emerging technologies can lead to reduced power consumptions but the design of these technologies needs to be applied with a low power consumption in mind. This means switching off components where possible, reducing the loads on the networks, and optimizing the power consumption of the network elements.
Currently, the main share of that power consumption lies near the customer. In fixed line access technologies the largest power consumer is the home gateway which can easily be optimized with relatively easy approaches. For wireless access technologies the largest power consumer is the base station. In fixed line access networks power consumption optimization is focused on the technology shift towards full optical networks. Especially Passive Optical Networks provide a low power consumption and are still being optimized. In wireless access networks many optimizations can still be implemented. At present, in core networks the power consumption is relatively low. Nonetheless, due to the expected increase in traffic volumes, power optimizations are welcomed here as well.