Environmental Leader, a leading daily trade publication covering energy, environmental and sustainability news, presented its 2019 Project of the Year award to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and NCTA – The Internet & Television Association for leading the
voluntary agreement to increase the energy efficiency of consumer internet equipment. The judges cited the initiative’s successful results and establishment of an effective alternative to traditional regulation that’s better suited for fast-moving industries.
“The Project of the Year Award recognizes our ongoing work to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint,” said Larry Robinson, senior vice president and segment leader, Customer Premises Equipment at
CommScope (which recently acquired ARRIS). “Our company played a leading role in establishing the agreement and developing its technical requirements, so we’re proud to announce that we’ve exceeded the signatory commitment by meeting the agreement’s targets on 99% of our applicable shipments. The initiative echoes our own philosophy of Conservation through Innovation. By constantly improving the technology we use to stay connected, we’re creating a brighter, greener future for everyone.”
“CTA applauds all of the companies – device manufacturers and service providers – that have made commitments to energy efficiency as part of this successful initiative,” said Doug Johnson, vice president of technology policy, CTA. “We’re proud to have helped create and expand such voluntary agreements, which have become a significant policy approach for advancing energy efficiency in the consumer technology sector.”
“The voluntary agreements have saved more energy than could traditional regulation, and done so more quickly, while still maintaining the flexibility that is essential to developing innovative new and improved services and capabilities for consumers,” said Neal Goldberg, general counsel of NCTA. “We are proud to have pioneered this new model for effective stakeholder collaboration.”
The Small Network Equipment (SNE) Voluntary Agreement, initially adopted in 2015, builds on the success of the award-winning voluntary agreement for
set-top boxes. Participant signatories include all of the nation’s largest consumer internet service providers (Altice, AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, and Verizon) and also major manufacturers (Actiontec, ARRIS, Netgear, Technicolor, and Ubee). CableLabs® also played a leading role in researching and developing energy efficiency strategies and in supporting the ongoing implementation of the voluntary agreements.
In 2018, an independent audit demonstrated the dramatic progress that has already been achieved under the agreement. The auditor’s s annual report showed the initiative has already improved the efficiency of home internet devices such as modems and routers by 20 percent. Recently, CTA and NCTA announced a
four-year extension to the agreement that committed to more rigorous energy efficiency levels by 2020 that are 11% lower than the agreement’s current levels.
The independent auditor’s annual report also found 99.2% of SNE devices purchased or sold at retail by participants in 2017 met the agreement’s energy efficiency levels, with every single signatory achieving its commitment that 90% of its devices would meet these levels. The report also shows improvements in SNE efficiency even as consumers demand increasingly robust equipment to support higher-speed services, better Wi-Fi strength and more Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The winners of the seventh annual
Environmental Leader Awards were announced at the Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference in Denver, CO. Award recipients were selected
based on the success and capabilities of their project or product and its positive contribution toward sustainability.
For a comprehensive look at the consumer tech industry’s efforts to increase energy efficiency and sustainability, visit
CTA.tech/Green. CTA also supports consumer education on energy efficiency via the website
GreenerGadgets.org, where consumers can calculate their approximate home energy usage and learn tips to help reduce their energy costs.
