Consortium aims to cut comms energy consumption by factor of 1000

The consortium brings together leaders in industry, academia and government labs to invent and deliver radical new approaches to energy efficiency. Founding members include: AT&T, China Mobile, Portugal Telecom, Swisscom, Telefonica, MIT, Stanford University, University of Melbourne, CEA-LETI, IMEC, INRIA, Bell Labs, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and Freescale Semiconductor. "What we are witnessing," said Jeong Kim, pictured, Bell Labs' president, "is a fundamental shift in thinking about ICT from a focus on optimising networks for maximum capacity to optimising them for energy efficiency. The consortium we are forming serves as a major milestone along the path toward a future, where the potential of communications networks to meet the demands of their users and benefit society is linked inextricably to our success in achieving environmental sustainability by reducing energy consumption." The efficiency target is based on research from Bell Labs that has determined that ICT networks have the potential to be 10,000 times more efficient than they are today. Bell Labs reached this conclusion following analysis of the fundamental properties of ICT networks and technologies (optical, wireless, electronics, processing, routing, and architecture) and studying their physical limits by applying established formulas, such as Shannon's Law. Green Touch is planning to deliver – within five years – a reference network architecture and demonstrations of the key components required to realise this improvement. This initiative also offers the potential to generate new technologies and new areas of industry. The first meeting of the consortium will take place in February and will be dedicated to establishing the organisation's five year plan, first year deliverables, and member roles and responsibilities.