New broadband standards aim to reduce energy use in Europe

Enabling connected devices in homes across Europe to transition into standby mode could result in significant energy savings. According to the Broadband Forum, this potential energy efficiency is comparable to powering up to seventy new small data centres or even a mid-sized city across the continent.

These power management standardisation efforts mean that devices like home gateways, repeaters, and set-top boxes will soon enter low-power modes, potentially conserving up to 1.3 TWh of energy annually. This is reportedly akin to satisfying the residential power needs of cities like Athens, Copenhagen, or Lisbon.

The Broadband Forum has embedded this within their TR-181 Issue 2 Amendment 20 Data Model. This aims to offer broadband service providers (BSPs) and manufacturers the tools needed to create more eco-friendly products. These advancements coincide with the sustainability objectives highlighted in the French Energy Transition Law for Green Growth.

The TR-181 data model, when coupled with a User Services Platform (USP/TR-369)-enabled network, aims to introduce standardised solutions for monitoring and controlling power consumption in networks. Technologies like Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB, xPON, and Thread help manage devices and software from different vendors more consistently.

A key aspect of these updates is their potential to contribute to economic and environmental efficiency. The features now permit remote monitoring of power consumption for hardware components, facilitating containerised solutions that can be implemented on devices remotely.

Enhanced features such as EDPD, LED brightness management, CPU frequency scaling, and adjustment of active Wi-Fi antennas are designed to help improve energy efficiency in the years ahead.

This plan aims to improve device efficiency while helping maintain service performance for customers.