Sprint nabs $7.3M grant for hydrogen fuel cells at cell sites
by Chris Ziegler 
posted Apr 21st 2009 at 10:47AM
The US Department of Energy is feeling generous with some $41.9 million worth of cold, hard cash in a round of grants aimed at advancing fuel cell tech, and Sprint ended up scoring some $7.3 million of it -- the only carrier to do so. Carriers and hydrogen fuel cells don't seem like a natural fit at first, but it turns out that backup power at cell sites is kind of a big deal, and fuel cells are a perfect fit for a reliable, long-running, zero-emission solution. Interestingly, Sprint has been really into this for a while now -- it's their third awarded grant, and it turns out that they've had fuel cells deployed at sites since way back in 2005 (and they've even got 12 patents under their belt to prove it). Most current sites offer up to 15 hours of power in the event of an emergency using low-pressure hydrogen tanks, and the carrier says that it'll use the latest cash infusion to work with its partners to boost that up to 72 hours. Probably worse ways for the government to spend $7.3 million, when you think about it (say, on no-bid contracts for surplus eraser heads for Number 2 pencils, for instance).
Filed under: Sprint
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
backbeat @ Apr 21st 2009 11:18AM
Sprint is innovating
Xirvin @ Apr 21st 2009 11:46AM
Sprint should get a nobel prize for using an element unheard of for power generation. To this day this element is classified by the CIA, NSA for its power properties. I have heard it is very similar to kryptonite. This hyrdrogen the title reference is a remarkable achievement.
sam @ Apr 22nd 2009 4:27PM
I thought Sprint sold all their cell site and towers to 3rd party company.
haX0r @ Apr 21st 2009 1:06PM
They did: http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209600529
"nearly all of its wireless communication tower"
"By leasing rather than owning these network facilities, we can better focus on our core business of providing communication services to consumers, businesses, and government customers,"
Roger Alford @ Apr 21st 2009 12:08PM
Sprint still owns iDEN towers AFAIK.... and quite a few CDMA towers, they only sold off like 3000 towers or something, most carriers have 20,000-30,000 towers, antennas, etc.
When I was in the Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm of 2006 in Seattle, I know the power in my neighborhood was off for 5 days, and the first evening all the mobile carriers had power, the next morning T-Mobile was down, but Sprint was still up. The next day after that (1.5 days after the storm), T-Mobile still was down, but Sprint was STILL UP.
So...having this new technology powering their cell sites is a great thing.
backbeat @ Apr 21st 2009 12:59PM
That is awfully good to know. Are you the same Roger A on BGR, one of my nemesis?
flyingfreak @ Apr 21st 2009 4:53PM
Anyone who has been through a natural disaster , can appreciate this.
Tito @ Apr 21st 2009 11:51PM
Doesn't hydrogen explode if the tanks rupture?
I heard from a friend that T-Mobile is deploying a system that actually uses purified windshield washer fluid and a system that dynamically extracts the hydrogen from that...
In other words, it's the same thing (fuel cell) without the potential of the fuel from exploding since it's not hydrogen, it's windshield washer fluid. (And I haven't heard of that exploding... lol!)
sam @ Apr 22nd 2009 4:28PM
so they got all this money for sites they dont even own? Wow!
b @ Apr 22nd 2009 4:55PM
yeah... why not?
how many businesses own vs lease the locations they operate in - why not lease towers from other people?