LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE ASIA EXPO 2012: The GSMA today announced an update to its 2009 report ‘Mobile’s Green Manifesto,’ stating that based on an analysis of 34 networks worldwide, total network energy consumption increased “only slightly” from 2009 to 2010, despite a considerable growth in mobile connections.

The study also showed that there is the potential for operators to save cash by improving the efficiency of networks: if all networks with above-average energy consumption are improved to the industry average, there is a potential energy cost saving for operators of US$1 billion per annum at 2010 prices. And improving the performance to the top quartile could save more than US$2 billion annually.

As well as offering benefits to the mobile industry, new technology is also enabling the ICT sector to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by other sectors.

The GSMA said that approximately 26 million mobile machine-to-machine connections worldwide are enabling greenhouse gas emissions savings of about 3 million tonnes of CO2E annually.

Future savings will come from the adoption of technologies such as smart grids and meters, as well as smart transportation and logistics.

Gabriel Solomon, head of regulatory policy at the GSMA, noted: “Mobile can enable savings through a range of smart applications and can contribute to a reduction of total emissions that is at least four to five times its own carbon footprint.”