Rising energy costs to force green ICT agenda
Increasing energy costs will ultimately force operaters into running their businesses more energy efficiently, and push research into newer technologies, such as hybrid-power stations, to save costs in the long run.
Speaking at a telecoms seminar at Nedbank’s headquarters in Sandton today (25 January 2012), telecoms analyst, Johan Snyman, described green business practices within the telecoms industry as something that will be “very interesting to watch” in the near future, particularly when looking at capital expenditure of local operators.
Snyman noted that “green sustainability” is fast becoming a key part of operators’ strategies – by looking at the operating costs of facilities such as base-stations and data-centres – weighed against the rising cost of energy in the country.
Becoming more energy efficient isn’t a new concept in South Africa, with local telecom operators having already engaged in “green” intiatives in recent times.
At the COP17 conference held in Durban in 2011, for instance, Vodacom tested a fuel-cell-powered base-station to provide delegates with data coverage; and MTN recently revamped their flagship data-center to run more energy-efficiently, amongst the other upgrades.
Going “green” – the bigger picture
Aside from saving companies money in long-term operating costs, the “green” push will also benefit the environment – and give operators a nice marketing angle as an additional plus.
The global ICT industry accounts for 2% of total carbon emission in the world – this according to Fritz Milosevic, Investment Banker at Nedbank Capital, said during a presentation on the state of African telecoms.
“If the Internet was a country, it would be one of the biggest emitters of carbon gasses in the world,” said Milosevic.
The statement echoes similiar findings from a Gartner report in 2007, which takes into consideration the energy required to manufacture, use and dispose of information and communications technology, as contributing factors to the figure.
Milosevic noted that there are over 800 million telecoms subscribers in Africa – a figure which is forecast to hit 1 billion by 2013 – further emphasising the reach and impact of African telecoms on the environment.
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