Clean, Green Calling Machine
Wednesday saw the world's five largest handset vendors launch a common energy rating scheme for mobile phone chargers, based upon standards laid out by the European Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The five star system will indicate how much energy a charger uses if it remains plugged-in once charging is complete – a problem that currently accounts for about two thirds of the energy used by mobile devices.
The move is indicative of a wider focus on the environmental impact of the telecoms industry, with the GSMA – the organisers of Mobile World Congress (MWC) – leading the way.
Green is one of the two key themes for MWC in 2009, while the organisation's Development Fund recently launched Green Power for Mobile – an initiative designed to promote research into renewable energy sources for mobile network infrastructure in developing countries.
The GSMA's Global Mobile Awards, which culminate at a gala dinner during MWC, are also embracing this commitment to sustainability, introducing two new Green Mobile Awards – one for CEOs and one for enterprises who are working to promote "low carbon economies, industry and lifestyles".
If the event's Pacific cousin – the Asia Mobile Awards, which were announced in Macau this week – are anything to go by, then the Global Mobile Awards are set to be a varied showcase of green mobile initiatives.
The Philippines' Powercity Corporation and Indonesia's AXIS both entered renewable power solutions, while Lebanon's MIC 2 and New Zealand's Vodafone offered up recycling initiatives for pre-pay scratch cards and mobile handsets, respectively.
The overall winner was Nokia, however, for its Malaysian Integrated Nokia Kiosk (INK) program – a six-month pilot project that saw the roll-out of dual-purpose, automated stations at which customers could have their handsets serviced or recycled, with Nokia planting a tree via the WWF's NEWtrees Initiative for each one.
In fact, where green thinking is concerned, Nokia is a poster child for the mobile industry at large. The company took the overall "Grand Prix" prize at the Green Awards last week, with judges recognising the success of its "power of we" campaign to encourage employee engagement with sustainable initiatives.
Beyond operator and OEM projects focussed on energy consumption and recycling, there are a number of technology developers looking at the mobile device itself as a tool for reducing environmental impact.
At the inaugural Green IT Expo in London recently, Tracer Systems exhibited a GPS-enabled Web application that makes the process of tracking vehicle fleets paperless. Meanwhile, Acumen Insights demoed a real-time collaboration tool optimised for PDAs and smartphones, enabling employees to cut travel and work remotely on any device.
As handset features continue to advance and legislation makes businesses more accountable for their energy usage, we're set to see the mobile phone take on an intriguing role in green initiatives. Carbon Diem is already innovating in this space, offering a compelling mash up of enterprise mobility application and location-based service, designed to monitor carbon footprint.
The deadline for entries for the Global Mobile Awards is a little over a week away now – Friday, November 28. Despite the cost of entry, we hope to see some of these smaller players in the running for the Green Mobile Awards, since – aside from reducing the impact of its own operations – the telecoms industry also has the opportunity to leverage the ubiquity of the mobile handset to help other sectors cut theirs.
Tags: Asia Mobile Awards, Global Mobile Awards, Green, Mobile World Congress, MWC
Posted by Luke Nava on November 20, 2008 at 8:27 AM
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