A new report from Liberty Global and EY suggests that the strategic adoption of AI in the telco sector has the potential to drive major sustainability gains over the next decade.
The report – ‘Smarter networks, greener planet’ – looks at how the telecommunications industry can harness artificial intelligence (AI) to help meet important sustainability goals in the sector.
Whilst acknowledging the energy intensity of AI – through practices such as the widespread integration of GenAI features into mobile applications – the report also highlights the technology’s potential for driving operational efficiencies within the telco sector. These include applications such as optimising energy use in mobile and fixed networks and using AI-enhanced video technology to improve efficiency in network builds.
The scale of the challenge created by AI-driven applications is illustrated by research cited in the report that shows that in just two years’ time the AI sector could consume between 85 and 134 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity annually – approximately 0.5% of total global consumption and roughly equivalent to the current electricity usage of the Netherlands.
Mike Fries, Chief Executive Officer, Liberty Global, said: “As data traffic continues to grow exponentially, we are committed to playing our part in reducing emissions throughout our networks and operations. We’re excited about the potential of AI to help us do this – and we’re already seeing the benefits in areas such as the optimization of energy use in our networks and making our network builds more efficient.”
Sustainability gains through AI would leverage the sector’s long-standing reputation for innovation, illustrated by research in the report which states that telco operators now carry as much as 10 times more data compared with five years ago, whilst maintaining similar levels of energy consumption.
Dr Harvey Lewis, partner for AI at EY and the author of the report, adds: “While the scenarios we present are speculative, they highlight the strategic potential of AI in the telco sector. Success will depend on network collaboration across Europe, investment in skills and infrastructure to create more competition, and a holistic approach to AI adoption that balances immediate efficiency gains with long-term sustainability impacts.”Overall, the report strikes an optimistic tone. Outlining four hypothetical outcomes for AI and sustainability in the next ten years, it predicts that the most likely is a scenario whereby AI helps minimize the extra energy required to support a huge growth in volume of data carried over telecommunications networks, while also yielding a number of other benefits.
