The spike in energy costs around the world over the past year has focused operators’ minds on the power consumption of their networks as never before. They are using a wide variety of techniques to reduce energy usage and cost, from AI-enabled intelligent power management to power purchase agreements. The immediate motivation may relate to keeping opex under control in times of inflation and uncertain revenue growth, but these initiatives are also often bound up with wider efforts to meet sustainability targets and reduce CO2 emissions. Switching off, or sunsetting, older networks reduces energy costs far more dramatically than intelligent power management in most cases, and so operators around the world are examining options to accelerate the end of older…