‘The future is friendly’ and, apparently, somewhat green. Telus has topped the list of Canadian cell phone network providers in a report ranking wireless carriers environmentally.
However, things are not as green as they are south of the border. Major American counterparts were given higher marks when it comes to being eco-friendly.
ABI Research, a global firm, conducted the study and looked at the entire gamut of issues involved in operating a wireless system. They searched for initiatives to reduce energy consumption on networks, employ ‘greener’ network equipment, offer eco-friendly phones, and efforts in cell phone recycling.
Telus came out ahead in Canada because of publishing data on its green efforts, reducing energy consumption in its buildings, and measuring its carbon efficiency. But not much information is available to ascertain how much energy its mobile network drains. It was even less so with Rogers and Bell, two other big Canadian carriers that are lagging behind.
Analyst Aditya Kaul said a key part of the study was looking at who took measures to cut power consumption on mobile networks.
“Most Canadian operators did not really have any programs that were targeted toward reducing this key metric that I measure… Operators who speak about green, that doesn’t really cut it with me”, Kaul said.
North American-wide, AT&T was the overall leader, disclosing how it has reduced electricity use on its network. Sprint came in second, with a worthy goal of recycling almost 90 per cent of handsets sold by 2017. Both companies are also pushing phone makers to create more environmentally friendly phones.
Another aspect that earned green points is electronic billing, an option offered by many wireless providers.
While green is on the minds of many cell phone network operators, less talk and more action is necessary to make the future world of wireless even friendlier.
Top 10 Ranking Order for Wireless Carriers
- AT&T
- Sprint
- Verizon
- T-Mobile
- Telus
- Rogers
- Bell
- MetroPCS
- Leap Wireless
- U.S. Cellular
