Green is good for business: making the financial case in telecoms

The financial case for going green in telecoms is about lower costs and higher revenues. Sustainable products that help environmental outcomes and reduce costs will be central to successful commercial performance. Costs are a focal point, as energy is still a stubbornly high burden on profit and loss, at 20-40% of opex for the average operator. The shift to renewables will help reduce this - but it takes time, so energy efficiencies are a priority. The green revenue story is less developed but equally important. This applies in the consumer segment (e.g. device-recycling schemes or bundling energy into mobile and/or broadband tariffs) and in the enterprise segment as part of digitisation programmes.

This is the second of a three-part series from GSMA Intelligence on the technological and business implications of sustainability in the telecoms industry. The research aims to give an evidence-based view of why going green makes business sense, and how this can be done effectively. The series comprises three reports covering: overall rationale and outlook; the financial case; and the reputational and external relations case.