Arcep has been collecting indicators since 2020 from France’s four largest telecoms operators, to be able to track the evolution of their environmental footprint, and relays this information through the publication of its annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey. The third edition of this survey, published in March 2024, included data collected from device manufacturers and data centre operators, along with an analysis of ISP routers’, STBs’ and Wi-Fi repeaters’ and boosters’ energy consumption.
The fourth edition of the survey, which Arcep will be publishing in early 2025, will also incorporate data for monitoring the environmental footprint of a new category of player, namely mobile network equipment suppliers.
In future editions, Arcep wants to continue to steadily enhance its collection of environmental data: the draft decision being published today for public consultation proposes extending this collection to include a new group of stakeholders, namely fixed network equipment suppliers that manufacture optical fibre cables, and to incorporate new indicators for some of the market players that are already being queried.
Collecting environmental data from fixed network equipment suppliers that manufacture optical fibre cables
Arcep plans to expand its data collection to include fixed network equipment suppliers that manufacture optical fibre cables. The proposed indicators seek to evaluate the associated greenhouse gas emissions, and the amount of energy, water and germanium involved in the production of these cables.
Completing the survey with new indicators collected from stakeholders already being queried
For those stakeholders that are already being queried (the largest telcos, device manufacturers and data centre operators), the main purpose of the new indicators will be to:
- Obtain a more detailed understanding of the influence that the different existing display technologies have on televisions’ power consumption;
- Enhance the data collected from data centre operators, notably to factor in the adoption of the European Commission’s Energy Efficiency Directive, and to refine certain indicators already being collected on land artificialisation and the use of cooling fluids;
- Evaluate the environmental footprint of manufacturing the routers and STBs distributed by ISPs, and assess the influence that certain settings have on routers’ and STBs’ power consumption.
A gradual and cooperative enhancement of the annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey: stakeholders invited to comment on the planned indicators
Arcep has been engaged in a collaborative process since 2020 to develop the collection of environmental data. This has led to a dialogue with fixed network equipment suppliers that manufacture optical fibre cables, to define relevant and methodologically sound indicators. The Authority also maintains an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders that have already been queried, to discuss the planned changes and obtain their initial feedback.
To gather reactions and comments from the largest possible number of parties on the planned data collection, the public consultation will be open to every stakeholder until 30 September 2024. Examination of the responses to this public consultation will help inform the final collection decision, which will be published before the end of the year.
Associated documents:
Arcep’s annual “Achieving digital sustainability” survey,
Informing public debate and devising a low-carbon strategy for digital technology
In March 2024, Arcep published the second edition of its annual survey, which included indicators collected from digital industry stakeholders, with the purpose of assessing ICT’s impact on the environment. A tool designed to inform public debate and collective thinking about a low-carbon strategy for digital technology, this annual survey also aims to identify levers for action, as much from economic stakeholders as users.
For this third edition, data collected from the four main operators was completed by an analysis of routers’, STBs’ and Wi-Fi repeaters’ and boosters’ energy consumption. Arcep also expanded this edition to include data collected from data centre operators and device manufacturers, which account for the digital sector’s biggest impact on the environment, according to the Ademe/Arcep report: “The digital environmental footprint in 2020, 2030 and 2050”.
The fourth edition of the “Achieving digital sustainability” survey (which is due to be published in early 2025) will include:
• new indicators collected from data centre operators and device manufacturers;
• indicators collected from mobile network equipment suppliers.
Arcep’s data collection powers
To obtain a full and detailed assessment of the digital environmental footprint, back in 2020, amongst the 11 proposals contained in its report on “Achieving digital sustainability”, Arcep proposed creating a Green Barometer. In 2021, the Government entrusted Arcep with the task of creating this barometer, covering the entire digital ecosystem. The “Chaize Act”, on reinforcing regulation of the digital sector by Arcep, strengthens Arcep’s powers by giving it the ability to collect environmental data not only from electronic communications operators, but also from online communication service providers, data centre operators, consumer device manufacturers, network equipment suppliers and operating system providers.