This could increase your phone’s battery life by 50%: UCSD study

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Your smartphone's battery could last longer if more 5G towers are built, according to a new study out of the University of California-San Diego.

The paper, published last month, shows how a densified network could lead to a 50% increase in smartphone battery life and improve the carbon footprint in urban areas.

According to the Pew Research Center , 97% of Americans now own a cellphone of some kind and nine in 10 people own a smartphone. As broadband cellular network technology improves, people have noticed the cost to own a smartphone is becoming more expensive .

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However, if you're one of the people who moved from 4G to 5G, you may have also noticed a reduced battery life.

UCSD researchers believe high mobile battery drainage is linked to more power being drawn from a single, larger base station that works hard to transmit data to be received at a further distance.

The study says building smaller 5G towers would consume less energy and improve overall net coverage. This is because, according to the study, everyone's phone signal would work better in an area with a denser network instead of relying on larger towers that are more spread out.

The researchers say the smaller towers would be placed at only 15 meters above ground, mounted to street poles or trees. This would be more cost-effective for network providers than building large-power base stations meant to sustain older networks, according to the study.

Installing them more strategically in urban areas also eliminates barriers to optimal wireless communication, researchers say. This is because signals transmitted by larger, distant cell towers often have trouble penetrating buildings, reflections or similar blockages.

If more and more people are charging their phones more often because their phones are working harder to receive and utilize data, it increases the area's carbon footprint.

The UCSD paper concludes that creating a dense network of smaller cell towers would be a greener approach to addressing wireless signal losses and weakening battery life.

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