TRAI wants GREEN TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today released a consultation paper on “Green Telecommunications”

1.Change in the world’s climate and the ensuing natural calamities like floods and typhoons are attributed to increased greenhouse gas emissions(GHG), mainly that of Carbon Dioxide, resulting from increased consumption of energy by manufacturing and service sectors. With more and more subscribers being added to the telecommunication networks, energy consumption and contribution of the telecom sector, to the global greenhouse gas emissions, is increasing. The total carbon footprint of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry is about 860 million tonnes or 2% of global emissions and that of telecommunication network and devices about 0.7% of the global emissions.

2. There is a growing concern about GHG emissions in India. To cater to its large subscriber base, there are about 3,10,000 telecom towers of which about 70% are in rural areas. Many of these areas have deficient power supply and, according to some rports, about 40% of the power requirement of these towers is being met by grid electricity and 60% by diesel generators. According to industry estimates, the total consumption of diesel, for telecom tower equipment powering and cooling, is about 2 billion litres which produces about 5.3 million litres of CO2 annually. With the continued growth of the subscriber base these numbers are only going to increase. This is bringing into focus the need for energy efficient equipment and use of renewable sources of energy. In this context TRAI has issued a consultation paper today to collectively discuss, debate and take further action or recommend suitable measures.

3. The consultation paper takes up the following important issues for deliberations:

• Estimation of the carbon footprint of the telecom sector in India.
• Need and framework of carbon credit policy for the Indian telecom sector.
• Measures to reduce the telecom sector carbon footprint.
• Promoting use of energy efficient devices and renewable sources of energy.
• Standards, testing and certification products and services as green.
• e-waste management.

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