Sustainable telecommunications

The telecommunications industry has enormous potential for enabling environmental, social and economic benefits thorough broad-band global connectivity. As it continues to experience exponential traffic growth, network energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue. In this report we take a holistic view of energy consumption by telecommunication networks. Drawing on our recent studies that combine traffic and technologies road maps, we show that the energy consumption of global networks is poised to increase significantly. We then show that focused research could reverse this trend, and identify dramatic energy efficiency improvement opportunities throughout telecommunication networks. We describe the GreenTouch™ consortium, with the goal of demonstrating technologies that will make the network a thousand-times more energy efficient, and the rich research eco-system of University and Industrial collaborations that it has created in the area of network energy efficiency. We also discuss the wide-ranging green research opportunities in networking, focusing more on the network energy efficiency aspects. Finally, we conclude that addressing this will require investment in research by many parties across the globe. This includes not just the technology companies but also government support which is essential in ensuring sustainable growth of telecommunications.