Press Release | August 23, 2021

Broadband Industry Successfully Reaches New Energy Efficiency Goals

by 
Laura Ambrosio
More than 99% of new modems, routers and other internet equipment purchased and sold last year for U.S. residential broadband subscribers met the new energy efficiency goals of the Voluntary Agreement for Ongoing Improvement to the Energy Efficiency of Small Network Equipment (SNE), according to a new independent audit report.

The report found that the average idle-mode energy use of SNE relative to average broadband download speed decreased by approximately 75% since the agreement was established in 2015. As an indicator for overall power consumption in SNE, these savings in idle-mode energy use show how home networking equipment has become more energy efficient even with increased demand.

“Industry has made great progress with this voluntary agreement covering networking devices at the heart of our connected homes,” said Doug Johnson, vice president of emerging technology policy, Consumer Technology Association.  “We’re excited to continue advancing energy efficiency while delivering innovative networking devices to consumers.”

The voluntary agreement was developed and implemented by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, and CableLabs. Participants include the major manufacturers of small network equipment (Actiontec, ASUS, CommScope, Linksys, Plume, Technicolor, and Ubee Interactive) and major U.S. broadband internet service providers (Altice, AT&T, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, and Verizon).

More information about the award-winning voluntary agreement and industry’s energy efficiency efforts is available at www.energy-efficiency.us.