i3 | October 02, 2020

Industry Agreement Impacts Energy Efficiency and Broadband Access

With more connected devices in American homes every year, the consumer technology industry has made it a priority to deliver more energy efficient broadband devices. Of the roughly 112 million U.S. homes with internet access, most connect using a networking device or router. In August, CableLabs®, CTA and NCTA -National Cable & Telecommunications Association, announced the latest report on its voluntary agreement to improve the energy efficiency of small network equipment (SNE).

Adopted in 2015, the agreement has already improved the average idle-mode energy use of home internet devices by 66% (relative to average broadband speed) —saving consumers both energy and money. Internet service providers signed on to the agreement cover more than 87 million U.S.homes —nearly 90% of the residential market.

“Every signatory has exceeded its commitments under the agreement for four consecutive years, demonstrating the industry’s dedication to energy efficiency even as it rises to meet the challenges of satisfyingconsumer demands for faster and better internet services,” says Neal Goldberg, NCTA’s General Counsel.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The agreement has also been helpful beyond reducing home energy use for consumers. By allowing additional energy usage to account for features such as new DOCSIS and Wi-Fi technologies that support higher-capacity services, the agreement enabled signatories to deploy equipment that can handle more capacity than what customers typically need. In contrast to prior regulations based upon then-average download speeds of 30 Mbps —devices would have faltered within days of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, as average broadband rocketed to more than 140 Mbps. Beneficially, the voluntary agreement enabled signatories to support the influx of broadband use without sending new equipment to customer homes.

According to Doug Johnson, vice president of technology policy at CTA, “As so many of us work, learn and stay connected at home via networking devices, this initiative has enabled devices to support features and speeds required by this increased usage. Absent this agreement, regulatory mandates would have made it difficult to upgrade devices and support the broadband levels we’re now relying on.”

The STB agreement has saved consumers a total of $5 billion in energy costs

The Latest Findings

The recent annual report by independent auditor D+R International, demonstrates the dramatic progress achieved under the agreement. According to the report, 99.8% of SNE devices sold at retail in 2019 met the agreement’s energy efficiency levels, with 100% of signatories

meeting their commitment that 90% of their devices would meet these levels. Notably, these efficiency improvements have been achieved even as consumers demand robust equipment to support higher-speed services, better Wi-Fi strength and more Internet of Things (IoT) devices.The report also found 98.9% of new devices in 2019 already met rigorous “Tier 2” energy levels not scheduled to begin until 2020. Agreement signatories include the major broadband internet service providers: Altice, AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier and Verizon, as well as leading device manufacturers: Actiontec, ASUS, Belkin/Linksys, CommScope, Plume, Technicolor and Ubee Interactive.The SNE agreement is modeled on the successful, award-winning set-top box energy conservation voluntary agreement. According to that agreement’s most recent report, set-top boxes now use 40% less energy than the models purchased prior to the Voluntary Agreement. Since being signed in 2012, the STB agreement has saved consumers a total of $5 billion in energy costs.

For more information, visit energy-efficiency.us.

Subscribe to i3 Magazine

I3, the flagship magazine from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, focuses on innovation in technology, policy and business as well as the entrepreneurs, industry leaders and startups that grow the consumer technology industry. Subscriptions to i3 are available free to qualified participants in the consumer electronics industry.