Telcos Go Green
By: Veda Informatics
Recent market reports indicate that key players in the global telecom sector are adopting environment-friendly technologies and going green to curb their incurring costs. The year, 2008, marked the beginning of a global recession.
Telecom Sectors Focus On Going Green
Adding a ‘green touch’ to all business operations has thus become a buzzword, particularly in the global manufacturing sector.
Going green is a responsible decision for Telco operators as it requires these entrants to implement the Kyoto Protocol. This means that these companies would have to incorporate environment-friendly technologies. Meanwhile, Telco operators continue to plan their investment projects with renewed focus on formulating strategies to improve the energy efficiency of their products.
In a world that is troubled by economic and environmental problems, the efforts go go green represent a ray of hope. This also mirrors a significant shift of business perceptions as optimizing natural resources becomes the focus around which global sustainability rests.
Telstra and Nokia Siemens Networks are Going Green
Telstra, an Australia-based telecom firm, made headline news as it launched several path-breaking internal measures to curb green house gases emission. The CEO of Telstra, Sol Trujillo, spoke extensively about these measures. He confirmed that the company is going green by installing GPS to reduce fuel intake in vehicles, curtailing office paper consumption and adopting an energy management program.
Telstra continues to ramp up efforts for ‘going green’ by replacing face-to-face location meetings with ‘in-person’ video conferencing. According to Trujillo, nearly 7,500 video conferences were conducted in 2008. This saved around 4,200 tons in travel carbon emissions.”
Nokia Siemens Networks has also joined this corporate ‘going green’ initiative in their investment planning. Their focus is to come up with advanced wireless and wire line technologies. Obviously, this means that companies like Nokia are not viewing these measures as a popular fad or a passing fancy. The focus on going green is serious and committed so as to ingrain these initiatives into everyday work and life.
Nokia Siemens Networks states clearly that these technologies will ensure a better and more efficient use of energy. Simon Beresford-Wylie, CEO, Nokia Siemens Networks says “…we see a world where five billion people are connected by 2015 – and that is about two billion more than today.”
Simon Beresford-Wylie further adds that with such a huge population using these communication services, the impact of environment-friendly measures will be enormous. He further stated that the company’s energy efficient products will trigger the biggest environmental impact. Nokia is also working to set up several energy-efficient cellular base stations.
In fact, Nokia’s statement pertaining to this reads as follows, “…in a network with approximately 5000 base stations, serving a large metropolitan area, the annual energy saving would be the equivalent of 73,000 tons of CO2 emissions, the emissions generated annually by 21,000 cars.”
Clearly, companies such as Telstra and Nokia will continue to play a critical and meaningful role in resolving energy expenditure issues for a long time to come. Despite unpredictable fluctuations in energy prices, companies will focus on formulating sustainable innovations that save both energy and money.
Ovum, an eminent analyst IT firm, stated that if telecom companies want to continue profit making during recession, they have to cut down on manufacturing costs and thus reduce energy expenditure for this purpose; they need to be going green.
A January 2009 report issued by Ovum concludes that various environmental friendly projects which are adopted by telecom firms add value to their green portfolios. The report details essential information about various investment projects that were undertaken by telecom firms.
Projects that helped companies who are going green will improve energy efficiency through practical solutions such as fiber optic cables, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), 4G mobile communication technology, video conferencing and mobile recycling. This ‘going green’ initiative has been further bolstered by some companies introducing solar panels to feed base stations.
Domains of Environmental Concerns and their Solutions
In 2008, a market study was conducted by INSIGHT Research Corporation. The study reveals similar trends in the global telecom sector. The study also concluded that telecom firms can create green communications portfolios through proper usage of their networks and services. It further specified five key domains that could pose environmental concerns.
The INSIGHT Research Corporation conducted a study titled “Communicating Green: Telecommunications Value in Promoting Environmental Improvement, 2008-2013.” This study examined telecommunications technologies and services pertaining to the following domains:
- transportation demand management (in the context of fuel consumption)
- power usage management of demand side
- machine-to-machine communications
- recycling of electronic devices, and
- regulatory compliance and audits.
In a press statement, INSIGHT Research official, Robert Rosenberg stated clearly that rather than invest in some new type of technology, “all carriers have to do is organize their existing capabilities into solutions sets.”
To mitigate the environmental impacts of the five domains, the research lists the following solutions:
- mobile workforce
- field services and personnel
- data center operations
- telecommuting
- facilities/building management
- environmental audit and compliance systems
- branch and remote office capabilities
- environmentally located data centers
- ICT equipment recycling.
The 2008 report indicated the possibility that the telecom sector might raise $1 trillion in five years by going green.
Telco Systems Attains ISO Accreditation
Telco Systems, a subsidiary of BATM Advanced Communications, attained ISO 14001 certification. The U.S. based company offers carrier Ethernet access and demarcation solutions to its subscribers. The company devised a highly effective process and system that helps to minimize environmental impacts on the surroundings. The Standards Institution of Israel conducted a review of the Telco Systems plant before it awarded the ISO certification.
Dr. Zvi Marom, the CEO of Telco Systems stated, “the ISO 14001 certification recognizes Telco Systems’ Environmental Management System which minimizes the way our manufacturing operations affect the environment.”
He further stated that Telco System’s practices are actually being repeated by other global manufacturing facilities. This would eventually help to reduce carbon footprint.”
The ISO certification environmental management system works effectively as it requires an organization to continuously review and upgrade its management and operational systems. This further helps to advance their strategy of going green. Organizations are expected to develop a systematic approach towards setting environmental objectives and formulating strategies to achieve them.
Relevance of ISO 14001:2004 to Going Green
The EMS (environmental management systems) standards were evolved by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). It provides clear guidelines to facilitate the development of a reliable environmental management mechanism. In order to become eligible for this standardization procedure, every organization is required to present objective evidence. On the basis of this evidence, standards would be evaluated.
It must be noted that the ISO 14001:2004 does not address any business specific environmental concerns. However, it provides a generic framework to guide every organization’s environmental policy, plans and actions.
When a company is awarded the ISO 14001:2004 accreditation, it is a big step forward towards going green. This accreditation recognizes that an organization’s production processes and activities are in compliance with international standards. Inevitably, such an accreditation sends out a strong signal of assurance to the international community and the key business stakeholders, who are associated with the environmental-friendly company.
Going Green…Forever
Due to worsening economic conditions of 2008-09, telecom giants are keen to pursue strategies of going green. The companies recognize that overall outcomes will exceed their input costs and speed up their financial gains and revenue generating opportunities.
A 2008 report by Ovum also consolidates this finding with a relevant point about how telecom companies benefit by going green and addressing environmental issues. The point is that power accounts for 2% to 3% of direct costs for these companies. These costs are estimated to be rising further. However, adopting strategies of going green would reduce these costs, refine the manufacturing process and make it possible to create better products. That is why the list of green priorities includes measures such as recycling used phones, improving battery life of telecom equipments and using more energy efficient technologies for production.
The ideas of going green, adopted by companies such as Telstra, Nokia Siemens Networks and Telco Systems will definitely go a long way to trigger positive and far-reaching results for more businesses and the world at large.
