T-Mobile, fresh off some sort of short code carrier controversy, has been experimenting with solar-powered cell towers. The company has installed the tower (well, full cell site) in eastern Pennsylvania. It’s probably done so for two reasons: one, yeah, it could help the company save a bit of money in the longterm, and two, nothing like some good PR.
It’s the company’s first solar-powered cell site here in the U.S.
GigaOm kindly reminds us that solar-powered cell sites are usually constructed in developing areas.
Apparently companies are just now figuring out that there’s a pretty big ball of burning hydrogen in the sky that, you know, we could use to power all of our stuff. Free, too. (Well, until a real life Mr. Burns comes around.)
Then again, the move could well be nothing more than gimmick designed to get the green police on T-Mobile’s side. A sort of, “See? T-Mobile has installed solar-powered cell towers. Why haven’t you, [Other Company]?”