Industry Briefing: techUK members feed into DSIT on the role of telecoms and net zero
techUK members joined us to feed in their thoughts on the role of digital connectivity in the UK government's net zero ambitions following the UK’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy.
The telecoms sector has worked collaboratively to create an industry-wide climate action roadmap to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. This webinar brought together the sector to discuss telecoms' vital role in the greening industry and telecom’s enabling role across other sectors' net zero ambitions.
techUK members were joined by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s Digital Infrastructure team currently leading on the delivery of the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy. This comes as they work to commission an independent assessment of the contribution that the adoption of 5G and other advanced wireless connectivity by key sectors can make to the UK’s net zero targets and how those benefits can be realised.
Watch the full Industry Briefing here:
Key take-home points from the briefing included:
What the government should focus on in a net zero project
- Analysis from the government should look at 'next step' of supporting advanced communication technology do what it can in for net zero ambitions.
- Outcomes-focused work to facilitate the net zero transition, i.e., support for roll out of 5G networks, or assessing procurement arrangements to support public sector solution adoption.
- Industry can already demonstrate the benefits of 5G but needs government support on infrastructure piece.
- Collaboration continues to be key for the enablement of telecoms in net zero - telecoms contributes 60% of the nation's carbon footprint but sector has also made headway with commitments to net zero targets.
Telecoms as an enabler for net zero
- Ofcom are assessing the enablement role of telecoms. Telecoms requirement for sectors, specific use cases including farming and autonomous vehicles. But sector wide requirements from telecoms may be useful.
- Connectivity is a fundamental pillar of enabling sectors to reach net zero. Government's net zero ambition doesn't point to wireless connectivity, or telecoms are to enable this.
- Advanced communications technologies give the ability for customers to have more energy efficient solutions, and support our customers to move to renewable energy and to provide them software hardware and services that can balance end-user experience/network performance and minimise embodied CO2 for products.
- Autonomous vehicles, smart cities etc will be supported from the fast, low-latency connectivity that advance communications technology will provide.
Continued challenges for telecoms as an enabler/net zero transition
- Energy efficiency of networks - what can data and AI tell us around efficiently utilising the network. I.e., efficient use of power and coverage for the network, i.e., better times to have 100% coverage.
- Location is still a barrier to advanced connectivity and local government needs to have accurate mobile data coverage.
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Future Telecoms is techUK’s exploration of what the connectivity of tomorrow will look like. We will highlight the criticality of communications to our future prosperity and economic growth, and how the future telecoms ecosystem acts as the engine of innovation. Visit our Future Telecoms Hub to learn more or to register for regular updates.
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Contact the team
Sophie Greaves
Sophie Greaves
Sophie Greaves is Head of Programme for Communications Infrastructure and Services at techUK, and oversees the UK Spectrum Policy Forum.
Sophie was promoted to Head having been Programme Manager for Communications Infrastructure and Services, leading techUK's telecoms activities, engagement and policy development. Previously, Sophie was Programme Assistant across a variety of areas including the Broadband Stakeholder Group, Central Government, Financial Services and Communications Infrastructure programmes.
Prior to joining techUK, Sophie completed a masters in Film Studies at University College London; her dissertation examined US telecoms policy relating to net neutrality and content distribution.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 020 7331 2038
- Twitter:
- @SJMJames1
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiegreaves/
Tales Gaspar
Tales Gaspar
Tales has a background in law and economics, with previous experience in the regulation of new technologies and infrastructure.
In the UK and Europe, he offered consultancy on intellectual property rights of cellular and IoT technologies and on the regulatory procedures at the ITU as a Global Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI).
Tales has an LL.M in Law and Business by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and an MSc in Regulation at the London School of Economics, with a specialization in Government and Law.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- +44 (0) 0207 331 2000
- Website:
- www.techUK.org
- LinkedIn:
- www.linkedin.com/in/talesngaspar
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