Telcos Want to Go Green But Face Obstacles

Mobile networks are expected to nearly double their power consumption between 2020 and 2025, the GSM Association noted in an October 2022 report. Mobile communications services consume more energy than ever, meaning energy conservation and emission reductions for telcos aren't simply a social responsibility but also "a critical requirement for energy cost savings." Failure to make energy efficiency part of network transformation to 5G could jeopardize a telco's competitiveness, GSMA said. Many operators have heeded the "green" call, but many challenges remain, it said.

"The protection of the environment is higher than ever on the agenda of European and global public decision makers," the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications noted in a March 9 report on sustainability indicators for e-communications networks and services. It's contributing to Europe's green and digital transition by supporting the ICT parts of the European Green Deal and international environmental targets. BEREC is now trying to get a handle on how to measure and mitigate the environmental impact of the telecom sector.

Many operators set goals to combat greenhouse gas emissions under the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi). Its goal is to comply with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. "To achieve this, GHG emissions must halve by 2030 -- and drop to net zero by 2050."

To reach net zero, companies commit to three "scopes" designating one organization/product carbon footprint through its life cycle, BEREC said. Scope 1 concerns all GHG emitted directly by a company, such as the heating in its premises and emissions from company-owned vehicles. Scope 2 refers to indirect and energy-related emissions, those created during the production process. Scope 3 concerns all indirect emissions, meaning those along a business' supply chain.

AT&T's strategy for achieving carbon neutrality has three prongs, a spokesman emailed: (1) Mitigating its own environmental impacts, including a goal to reach carbon neutrality across its own operations by 2035; (2) using its connectivity to help other companies cut their emissions; and (3) building resilience against climate-related extreme weather events. AT&T is a member of GSMA.

Since 2015, AT&T has reduced emissions from its operations (Scopes 1 and 2) by 37.2% by investing in such things as energy efficiency and renewable energy. It's working with its supply chain on sustainability. At the end of 2021, 47% of its suppliers had set their own science-based Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reduction targets. AT&T is also expanding businesses' use of smart climate solutions, identifying best practices, exploring new product ideas and use cases, and backing innovations of startups, the spokesman said. In addition, it commissioned forward-looking climate data from the U.S. Department of Energy that allows it to look decades ahead to better assess risks and boost climate resilience for the company and the communities it serves.

Orange is seeing increased interest among telcos in addressing the entire supply chain, said Group Chief Technology Officer Laurent Leboucher at a Jan. 24 TelecomTV green network summit. There's more emphasis on the life cycle of equipment and a growing appetite among customers and consumers for eco-designed products and services. Orange has committed to being net zero by 2040, 10 years ahead of the sector in general.

"Energy efficiency is just the tip of the iceberg," noted a 2022 Telecoms.com climate action survey report. It found many telcos "remain in the planning stage or simply have no initiative at all in terms of sustainability" because "[i]t is hard work." The biggest impediments telcos face in developing sustainability initiatives are finding the budget to finance them (although there's some progress on this front) and struggling to align with partners and suppliers who don't share their goals, it said. In addition, operators are concerned their business model isn't fit for a circular economy and their technology isn't upgradeable.

The key challenge for regulators in this arena is to develop a common set of methodologies to understand and assess the impact of wireless technologies on climate change, the report said; and to ensure that national data on emissions and the energy efficiency of spectrum is accurate (see 2302220006).