EU telco consortium aims to mitigate environmental impact of 6G

An EU-funded consortium of 10 organisations - including Telefónica and Huawei - has launched to reduce the carbon footprint of telecommunications systems. 

EXIGENCE, which encompasses partners in telecommunications, academic research and digital transformation across seven EU Nations, is set to mitigate the environmental impacts of next-generation (6G) mobile systems.

The introduction of 6G means there is an unsustainable increase in power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. 

Unlike existing approaches focusing on individual domains, the EXIGENCE project takes a comprehensive approach considering the entire ICT ecosystem.

By working with the mobile ecosystem, including two of the world’s largest manufacturers of digital devices, EXIGENCE aims to provide an integrated platform for mobile systems to unveil green insights. 

It will provide solutions for managing the use of mobile technology and focus the discussion on the vital role sustainable practices can play in achieving the EU’s Green Deal.

Started in January 2024, but publicly unveiled today, the project coordinated by F6S, will:

• Measure energy consumption, 
• Optimise service provision, 
• Incentivise behavioural changes among users of ICT.

Alongside F6S, Huawei, and Telefonica, EXIGENCE is comprised of the following partners:

• Instituto de Telecomunicações (ITAV) - a private, not-for-profit organization and partnership of nine institutions with research and development in the field of Telecommunications.
• The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA).
• Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).
• INTERNET INSTITUTE Ltd. (ININ) - a SME, specialised in 5G, IoT and cloud solutions.
• ATOS IT Solutions and Services Iberia. 
• Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB) is participating in the project with the Services, Technologies and Economics Group (STEcon), a group specialising in the combination of technology and economics.
• Detecon International GmbH.

According to Artur Hecker, Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmbH, Huawei is driving sustainability standardisation with 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) by advancing service-level energy consumption measurements, inter-domain eco-data exchange, and green optimisation. 

“Even though domain-specific optimisation and control will continue playing an important role in meeting energy and CO2 reduction targets, what sets the EXIGENCE project apart is the active role that service consumers play in carbon footprint minimisation.”

Sean Kane, Co-Founder and Chair of F6S, said: 

“AI and pervasive connectivity are driving data — and huge amounts of it — into every aspect of work and play. In 2024, connected devices consumed 500 terawatt-hours of energy.” 

In turn, these devices were fed by data centres, consuming another 500 terawatt-hours, meaning both sides of the fast-growing connected device energy consumption already equal almost all the energy consumed in Japan annually. 

“Despite the growth in renewable technology, the rapid increase in energy required to feed connected devices will produce ever greater amounts of greenhouse gases for the foreseeable future.

That’s why F6S is proud to partner with leading entities in this space to introduce actionable sustainable practices.”

Lead image: Freepix.