Base station sleep mode based on powder consumption and/or quality of service

A method for operating a communication system, comprising the steps of:

• powering a plurality of base stations based on a plurality of operating policies, which comprise a group policy, each base station operating in an active mode or a sleep mode having less power consumption than in the active mode;
• wherein under the group policy, the plurality of base base stations are arranged to switch between operating in the sleep mode and the active mode based on a predetermined pattern and a dynamic pattern associated with a predetermined traffic load offered by the communication system;
• analyzing an overall power consumption for powering the plurality of base stations with respect to a quality of service of the communication system;
• and
• switching at least one of the plurality of base stations to operate between the sleeping mode and the active mode based on a result associated with the overall power consumption and/or the quality of service.