The French regulator continues to extend its monitoring of sustainability in the telecoms sector as other European NRAs advocate a similarly expanded mandate
Arcep proposes to add fixed network equipment suppliers to its annual environmental data collection effort
On 26 July 2024, Arcep launched a public consultation on the addition of new indicators to its annual environmental data collection work. In 2020, the French regulator started collecting information from operators to track the environmental footprint of the communications sector as part of its “Achieving digital sustainability” survey. In the years since, Arcep has also begun collecting data from device manufacturers, data centre operators and mobile network equipment suppliers, expanding the scope of the study to new points in the communications value chain. The regulator, in this consultation, is now proposing to include fixed network equipment suppliers, with a specific interest in collecting data on the sustainability of manufacturing fibre optic cables. The consultation will be open for comment from interested stakeholders until 30 September 2024.
The regulator is interested in the emissions generated by cable manufacturing, as well as the environmental impacts related to the rare Earth materials required
Similar to the data collected from other stakeholders, Arcep intends to survey fixed network equipment suppliers with a turnover in France over €10m (£8.5m) on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions created and the water and energy required in their manufacturing processes. Suppliers would also be required to report on the total volume of germanium – a rare Earth metal – used in manufacturing. In addition to its inclusion in export controls lists issued by China in its so-called ‘chip war’ with the US, Japan and the Netherlands, germanium is notable for the negative environmental impacts related to the mining process required to extract it. The consultation also proposes updating the indicators used to evaluate data centre operators to align with the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive, collecting additional data on the energy efficiency of different display technologies in televisions and further evaluating the environmental footprint of the manufacturing and operation of network terminal equipment, including routers and set-top boxes.
BEREC is seeking a expansion of European NRAs’ mandates to include sustainability to allow for similar data collection activities
According to our ESG Tracker, Arcep is the only European NRA with a legal mandate to collect data from a broad range of industry stakeholders. With the EC’s 2023 update to the Energy Efficiency Directive, EU Member States are now empowered to collect energy efficiency information from data centre operators. However, broader monitoring of the impacts of communications networks underway elsewhere, including by the BIPT in Belgium and Traficom in Finland, remain voluntary for participating stakeholders. Since Arcep’s mandate was expanded to include sustainability with an amendment to the Postal and Electronic Communications Code in 2021, other European regulators have sought similar powers. Most recently, BEREC, on behalf of its member NRAs, voiced its support for the addition of an environmental sustainability objective for the sector in a future Digital Networks Act, noting that regulators would gain authority to perform mandatory data collection similar to Arcep’s ongoing work. Such an addition to regulatory authority would further solidify the bloc’s existing leadership among communications regulators around the world in advancing sectoral sustainability.
