European Regulators Eye Actions to 'Green' the Telecom Industry
Regulators in Europe and elsewhere are mulling what they can do, if anything, to help "green" the telecom sector, they said. Many mobile operators have committed to achieving carbon neutrality in coming years, and EU telecom and spectrum regulators are actively engaged in determining whether they can aid that effort, they said. Mobile operators said they expect regulation but want to set the agenda.
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A key priority for 2021-2025 has been to support sustainable and open digital markets, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) emailed. It published a report last year on environmental sustainability "with the aim of defining its potential contribution to limiting the digital sector's impact on the environment." The report focuses on electronic communications networks and services. Environmental sustainability is a new topic for national regulatory authorities, but some rules under the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) and sectoral directives seem to have beneficial effects on the environment, such as infrastructure-sharing, civil works coordination and spectrum management, BEREC said. It wants to learn more about what regulators can do to green the sector.
Another study concluded that national regulators can play a role in supporting sustainable network rollout and operation by enforcing provisions of the EECC and EU broadband cost reduction directive (BCRD), BEREC told us. This could include promoting more energy-efficient technologies such as fiber-to-the-home and 5G, urging operators to re-use existing physical infrastructure and coordinating access works, and sharing networks where appropriate. The European Commission is revising the BCRD, and BEREC is readying a report on indicators that might help evaluate the environmental sustainability of electronic networks and services.
The EU Radio Spectrum Policy Group is also addressing sustainability, emailed Rory Hinchy, co-chair of its subgroup on climate change: "From a spectrum regulatory perspective, it is not clearly understood how spectrum policy impacts the climate."
The panel is focused on the need for a common set of methodologies to understand and gauge the impact of wireless technologies on climate change; and how to ensure that data on emissions and energy efficiency about spectrum use at the national level is accurate. A Feb. 17 questionnaire seeks input on mechanisms for assessing the energy efficiency of wireless technologies and on how EU countries measure and manage the energy efficiency of those technologies. Results could guide the EC toward a "harmonized" approach, Hinchy said: "But we are not at that stage just yet." Comments are due April 12.
The subgroup uses a technology-neutral approach and isn't specifically looking at the climate aspects of 5G but at wireless technologies in general, Hinchy said. In an earlier opinion, it recognized that making large contiguous blocks of spectrum in a given band available can lead to more efficient network operation. The RSPG recommended EU governments assess how active and passive infrastructure sharing might help reduce the carbon footprint of wireless communications services while maintaining competition goals.
Canada introduced a policy theme of spectrum, 5G and climate change in its consultation on the spectrum outlook 2022-2026, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada emailed. "Going forward, ISED will consider different mechanisms to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the telecommunication industry in Canada."
A December ministerial statement of expectations for the Australian Communications and Media Authority directed ACMA to look at and boost "the Government's policy priorities with respect to the commitment to New Zero by 2050 and the role that digital infrastructure services can contribute to this objective," an ACMA spokesperson emailed. Current spectrum management rules don't have emissions targets for environmental drivers. The FCC didn't comment on whether it's considering regulatory or spectrum policy action to encourage the greening of the telecom sector.
The mobile sector expects some sort of regulation, representatives said at a Jan. 24 TelecomTV green network summit. The industry "should assume" that regulators will be pressured to act and it should set the agenda, said STL Partners telecom consultant Philip Laidler. Regulation should be more about setting minimum standards, requiring transparent disclosure and driving best practices, he said.
There's an expectation from governments and enterprise customers that operators will report their energy use, said Terje Jensen, Telenor senior vice president-network and cloud technology strategy. Telcos have the incentive to improve their climate impact so their goals are aligned, but regulation shouldn't be taken too far, he added.