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Sustained cost pressures and commitments to net zero have made energy efficiency a strategic priority for mobile operators, network infrastructure providers and tower companies. Working closely with a global set of mobile operators, GSMA Intelligence leveraged its independent position and analytical capabilities to launch its Energy Efficiency Analysis and Benchmarking project in 2020. The benchmark is based on real-world data inputs and aims to quantify network energy consumption, efficiency levels and fuel sources. For this edition, GSMA Intelligence invited infrastructure providers and tower companies to participate, sharing their data on energy efficiency.

While there are several indicators and metrics in telecoms, the industry has traditionally lacked a global, comprehensive metric to measure environmental sustainability. In 2025, GSMA Intelligence developed the Green Network Index (GNI), which proposed a single figure to measure the overall environmental sustainability for telecoms networks and help establish a path to greener networks. The second edition of the Green Network Index has expanded to include 138 networks, benchmarking progress at the operator and country levels.

The Green Network Index is a tool for tracking progress on sustainability among telcos and understanding what is driving or holding back progress. The index offers granular data to allow for country and regional comparisons. Alongside the flagship GNI report and index, GSMA Intelligence is releasing a series of company case studies to illustrate innovation in action. This case study highlights how Openserve has taken a leadership position by re-architecting its network energy model, using AI-driven optimisation and renewable energy integration to ensure resilience, affordability and sustainability.

The Green Network Index is a tool for tracking progress on sustainability among telcos and understanding what is driving or holding back progress. The index offers granular data to allow for country and regional comparisons. Alongside the flagship GNI report and index, GSMA Intelligence is releasing a series of company case studies to illustrate innovation in action. This case study highlights how scale and technological sophistication position China Mobile (Guangdong) as both a major energy consumer and a critical testbed for how next-generation networks can be delivered through more energy-efficient and sustainable operating models.

For the last three years, GSMA Intelligence has run a benchmarking study to analyse progress on the ESG Metrics for Mobile. With 23 mobile operators participating in the latest assessment, the report highlights industry-wide progress and offers data-driven insights into the evolving landscape of ESG reporting in the mobile sector. The 2025 study highlights improvements in reporting and performance across several areas, including GHG emissions and energy consumption. But there remains work to be done elsewhere as gaps persists in metrics related to circularity, digital skills and supply chain assessments.

While telecoms networks, data centres and devices have their own carbon footprints, their systemic value lies in the ability to make energy-intensive sectors more efficient, more electrified and better optimised. This report looks beyond headline efficiency gains to capture the net impact of ICT. It assesses the net ICT enablement effect across five major emitting sectors: manufacturing, transportation, energy & power, buildings and agriculture.

This Insight Spotlight is part of our 5G Next series, which helps clarify the next phase of 5G and highlights key technological innovations. Energy efficiency is becoming increasingly critical as it directly affects operational costs, while the integration of new network layers can contribute to rising energy consumption. Reducing operational complexity, unlocking actionable insights and transforming billing will be foundational to achieve efficiency, sustainability goals and long-term network resilience in the 5G era and beyond.

GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This edition looks at net-zero targets among mobile operators.

The ESG Metrics for Mobile Benchmarking 2024 report provides a comprehensive analysis of how mobile operators worldwide are adopting and disclosing ESG metrics to drive sustainability and business value.

Sustained cost pressures and commitments to net zero have made energy efficiency a strategic priority for telecoms operators; sustainability registered as a top network transformation priority for operators around the world in 2024. Partnering with a global set of mobile operators, GSMA Intelligence leveraged its independent position and analytical capabilities to launch its Energy Efficiency Analysis and Benchmarking project in 2020. The benchmark is based on fully anonymised, real-world data inputs, with a goal of quantifying network energy consumption, efficiency levels and fuel sources. With each successive year, operator participation in the benchmarking project has grown. The result is a unique, increasingly salient, network-level global data set on energy efficiency, alongside insights into sustainability trends, technologies and best practices.

While there are several indicators and metrics in the telecoms sector, there is not yet a comprehensive or holistic metric to measure environmental sustainability. Thus, GSMA Intelligence has developed the Green Network Index (GNI), which proposes a single figure that attempts to summarise overall environmental sustainability for networks and outline an evolutionary path. This recommended figure includes 10 elements, including resource and emission efficiency, renewable energy usage, network performance, availability and vertical enablement, among others.

The latest GSMA consumer survey asked more than 10,000 consumers about their views on smartphone repairability, reuse and recycling, refurbished smartphones and the importance of sustainability when buying a new mobile phone. The survey findings have important implications for operators, mobile phone OEMs and other mobile ecosystem players in terms of positioning, potential sales benefits and the wider promotion of circularity schemes.

Having been under significant pressure for the last few years, sales of smartphones are recovering. Against this backdrop, understanding how consumer behaviour with devices is changing (and why) is crucial to prepare for the next phase of device innovation and growth.

The complexity of reorienting network strategy around sustainability means a clear framework is key for prioritising when and where actions should be taken. This report outlines such a framework, offering telecoms operators and their suppliers a 'true north' to guide decision-making.

Solutions and policy remedies to the challenge of decarbonisation are urgent considering the timelines and milestones ahead for net zero. This research presents the state of play and outlook for renewables. It outlines the long-term benefits to decarbonisation that such an energy transition offers.

The economics of rolling out telecoms networks in rural areas have long proved challenging. The difficulties centre on running a high fixed cost business against a lower revenue base. To examine the state and outlook for energy use among African telecoms operators, GSMA Intelligence ran a data gathering exercise involving most of the largest telecoms operators in the region.

The global market for pre-owned, refurbished mobiles is growing significantly. The latest GSMA Intelligence consumer survey asked users about their intentions, including whether they would consider purchasing refurbished smartphones, the reasons for doing so, and their expectations for price discounts. The survey findings have important implications for operators, smartphone OEMs and other ecosystem players.

While virtual power plants are nascent, there is growing interest from telecoms operators and their vendor suppliers, with a potential win-win in terms of sustainability and P&L. This analysis focuses on the financial incentive behind virtual power plants.

An emerging area of focus for net zero is energy production and its supply to the power grid. Virtual power plants offer mobile operators opportunities for more stable power capacity, more efficient use of renewables, and a revenue stream from frequency balancing and power sales.