In a move set to accelerate its nationwide full-fibre rollout, CityFibre, the UK’s leading independent network operator, has announced the acquisition of full fibre altnet Lit Fibre from Newlight Partners. This strategic acquisition is poised to extend CityFibre’s reach by up to 300,000 premises as part of its ambitious 8 million premises rollout program. The agreement, structured on a share-based acquisition model, will see Newlight Partners assume a minority stake in CityFibre. The completion of the transaction is anticipated in the second quarter of 2024.

Lit Fibre, a vertically integrated altnet, is both a network builder and Internet Service Provider (ISP). As of now, they cover 200,000 premises spanning across more than 20 towns in various regions including Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Worcestershire, Essex, and Suffolk. With a rapidly expanding subscriber base exceeding 9,000 retail customers, Lit Fibre brings significant operational value to CityFibre’s growth strategy.

This acquisition marks CityFibre’s initial move in a series of anticipated deals over the next two years, aligning with its vision to leverage altnet acquisitions as a key driver for growth. By integrating Lit Fibre into its network infrastructure, CityFibre aims to solidify its position as the primary wholesale competitor to BT Openreach in the UK.

The integration process, slated for completion later this year, will enable ISPs to access a consistent range of market-leading products, pricing, and service offerings across the network. CityFibre plans to seamlessly integrate Lit Fibre’s assets into its carrier-grade network, encompassing passive, active, and operational support systems.

The acquisition also includes Lit Fibre’s ongoing deployment initiatives, aiming to cover up to an additional 100,000 premises by early 2025. Leveraging existing poles and ducts, Lit Fibre’s network demonstrates an attractive build cost per premises. Lit Fibre also uses high standard and compatible 10Gbps XGS-PON network architecture which will be a boon to CityFibre’s integration process by allowing them to maintain high-quality services to customers.

CityFibre assures Lit Fibre customers of uninterrupted full-fibre broadband services throughout the integration process. As a wholesale-only operator, CityFibre remains committed to exploring retail ISP options post-integration to enhance service offerings.

With a proven track record of successful acquisitions including KCOM, Redcentric, Entanet, and FibreNation, CityFibre is well-equipped to integrate Lit Fibre into its commercial strategy.

NEWS

A damaged subsea cable has brought major disruption to West Africa, with internet services down or barely accessible across large parts of the region, with Ivory Coast, Liberia and Benin the worst effected.

While the cause of the damage has yet to be confirmed, reports from NetBlocks, an internet watchdog have classified the incident impact in these three countries as being severe to high, while outages were being experienced across large swathes of the region, as well as in South Africa, where thousands of users have reported disruption.

Both MTN and Vodacom, two of the continent’s largest operators have confimed that subsea cable failures were the cause, with a Vodacom spokesman stating “Multiple undersea cable failures between South Africa and Europe are currently impacting South Africa’s network providers, including Vodacom.” While the cable break has yet to be pinpointed, the disruption couldn’t have come at a worse time, with the Seacom cable that connects South Africa with Europe via East Africa and the Red Sea having been recently severed, with repairs being delayed due to the delicate geopolitical situation within the region.

The outage has caused widespread disruption, and marks the second time in seven months than an undersea cable issue has brought chaos to Africa’s internet infrastructure. While it’s unclear how long it will take to repair the damage, with the location of the break not yet pinpointed, this latest outage will no doubt bring further headaches to the industry and broader region.

Light Source Communications has won some backing for a new dark fiber route out in Arizona. With an unnamed global hyperscale anchor tenant in place, they have begun building a 140 mile route in the Phoenix metro area. … [visit site to read more]

Over in the UK there has been a bit of consolidation in the FTTx space. The national fiber builder and operator CityFibre has announced the acquisition of the provider Lit Fibre, an alternative fiber network currently owned by Newlight Partners. … [visit site to read more]

stc Bahrain has launched what it claims is the first instant mobile eSIM activation service that uses AI-powered facial recognition to authorise users, one month after Bahrain’s telecoms regulator approved use of facial recognition for telecoms services.

Subscribers can use the My stc BH app to buy a new eSIM and download it instantly. The app enables users to choose their favorite number and preferred mobile plan.

After that, stc subscribers can activate the eSIM instantly by capturing a live photo using their smartphone’s camera for identity verification. Once facial recognition software on the backend verifies the customer’s ID, the eSIM is activated and ready to use.

The telco says this makes the remote activation process both easier and more secure. It also eliminates the need for users to present or upload documents, visit a physical branch or wait for a delivery agent to come and authenticate and/or register their fingerprint.

« By leveraging AI face recognition technology and eSIM capabilities, our existing and new subscribers can get an eSIM number online and activate it without visiting any stc outlet, » said stc Bahrain CEO Eng. Nezar Banabeela in a statement. “Our aim is to empower customers by offering a seamless digital experience that enhances convenience and efficiency.”

stc also credited Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) for supporting the facial recognition activation service, though it gave no details what that involved.

Last month, the TRA issued a position paper updating its official Electronic Solution Requirements document to include use of facial recognition technology.

Under the updated guidelines, among other things, telecoms players in Bahrain can only use facial recognition technology for identity verification of subscribers. Telcos must also clearly inform subscribers in advance that facial recognition data will be collected and processed, what specific data is being collected, and that it will only be used for ID purposes during the onboarding process. They must also obtain subscriber consent first and provide an easy opt-out option.

Telcos must also enact explicit policies prohibiting the use of facial data for any purposes beyond identity verification, and ensuring that the data is not processed for marketing, surveillance, or any other unrelated purpose. Use of facial recognition also must also comply with relevant data privacy and protection laws.

Stockholm and Madrid, 12 March, 2024 – Arelion and Telxius are collaborating to provide fully diverse, multi-terabit connectivity into Telxius’ landing stations in Boca Raton and Jacksonville, Florida. This fiber network expansion establishes Arelion Points-of-Presence (PoPs) at each Telxius landing station. For Telxius, it empowers customers with resilient Tier-1 optical transport and high-speed access to Arelion’s North American network. Together, Arelion and Telxius are making a significant investment in the Florida Peninsula to connect Latin American customers to North America through submarine and terrestrial systems.

The collaboration benefits both Arelion and Telxius’ customers in North America and Latin America with enhanced access to the companies’ global Internet backbones. Customers also benefit from Telxius’ portfolio of leading submarine and terrestrial backhauls, and Arelion’s resilient terrestrial connectivity services, including high-capacity wavelengths for service providers, content providers and enterprises.

Arelion’s PoPs enable resilient 400G Wavelengths services over open line systems supporting the latest coherent technology, seamlessly connecting Internet carriers and content providers to Arelion’s network in the United States. This network expansion complements Arelion’s existing presence at Telxius’ Virginia Beach landing station and further cements Arelion as a key terrestrial connectivity provider in North America. Telxius’ Virginia Beach landing station is the landing point for three next-generation subsea systems connecting to Latin America and Europe: Brusa, Marea and Dunant. Telxius’ Boca Raton landing station is the terminal point for Telxius’ South America-1 (SAm-1) and upcoming Tikal submarine cable system, while Telxius’ Jacksonville landing station connects to the Pacific Caribbean Cable System (PCCS). Both landing stations provide diverse, high-capacity connectivity to the United States from Panama, South America and the Caribbean.

“Arelion’s new PoPs at Telxius’ landing stations along the Florida Peninsula will provide Latin American markets with high-capacity gateway access to the North American connectivity ecosystem,” said Edison De Leon, Regional Director Latam & Caribbean at Arelion. “Through this investment in the Florida Peninsula, Arelion continues our established partnership with Telxius to serve the technological needs of Internet carriers and content providers through complete, collaborative connectivity solutions.”

Florida’s technology industry recently ranked fourth in the United States for tech growth, adding 2,715 tech businesses last year and outpacing established hubs, including California and Texas. Arelion and Telxius’ partnership establishes key interconnection points for Latin American companies requiring access to major cloud regions, content applications and network infrastructure supporting Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) applications in North America.

“We at Telxius are committed to expanding our high-capacity terrestrial backhauls in combination with our next-generation subsea cable networks to connect the world’s digital hubs and better serve our customers across the Americas”, said Carlos Casado, VP of Sales, Telxius, Northern Region. “Our continued collaboration will provide ultra-high capacity, low latency and robust access to Latin America and transatlantic markets for Arelion and its customers. For Telxius, it secures 400G transmission services in our Boca Raton and Jacksonville landing stations, enabling resilient Tier-1 optical transport and high-speed access to Arelion’s North American network for customers.”

About Arelion

Arelion solves global connectivity challenges for multinational enterprises whose businesses rely on digital infrastructure. On top of the world’s #1 ranked IP backbone and a unique ecosystem of cloud and network service providers, we provide an award-winning customer experience to customers in more than 125 countries worldwide. Our global Internet services connect more than 700 cloud, security and content providers with low latency. For further resilience, our private Cloud Connect service connects directly to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud and Oracle cloud across North America, Europe and Asia. Discover more at Arelion.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Telxius

As the world’s needs for uninterrupted global interconnectivity continue to rise, we are preparing the road ahead. Telxius is a leading global connectivity provider that combines subsea and terrestrial networks with data centers worldwide. Its extensive ecosystem includes eight next-generation fiber optic submarine cables and terrestrial backhauls together spanning 100,000+ km, almost 100 PoPs in 17 countries, plus 25 landing stations and data centers. Telxius provides a wide range of capacity, colocation and security services, as well as direct internet connectivity through its Tier-1 IP network. With ultra-high capacity, low latency and resilient networking, Telxius seamlessly connects customers across the Americas, Europe and beyond. For more information about Telxius visit www.telxius.com.

Contacts:

Arelion
Martin Sjögren, Senior Manager PR and Analyst Relations
+46 (0)707 770 522

martin.sjogren@arelion.com 

Media Contact

Jeannette Bitz, Engage PR

+1 510 295 4972

jbitz@engagepr.com

Telxius

comunicacion@telxius.com

UK businesses lost over 50 million hours and £3.7 billion due to internet failures in 2023, according to a new report from Beaming, a specialist business ISP. Reliance on connectivity for trading and operational activities has increased among businesses in the last five years, and the cost of missed sales, lost productivity and other disruptions due to downtime has risen by 400%.

Beaming’s report – The Cost of Downtime: The Impact of Outages on UK Businesses in 2023 – shares its analysis of a Censuswide survey of businesses using connectivity from various internet service providers, and advice to help companies reduce downtime levels and costs. The report reveals that:

• Cumulatively, UK businesses experienced 8.8 million internet failures and 50.5 million hours of disruptive downtime in 2023, where the ability to trade or access vital services was impaired.
• The amount of time businesses lost to connectivity failures in 2023 was a fifth lower than in 2018 when previous Beaming research found that firms lost 60 million hours to downtime. However, the cost of that downtime has increased fivefold: from £742 million in 2018 to £3.7 billion in 2023. 
• Heightened dependence on connectivity for communication, e-commerce and access to cloud applications means 15% of UK businesses, some 850,000 nationwide, would now start losing money the moment their connectivity fails. This is 81,000 more firms than five years ago. 
• During 8-hour internet outages – a standard working day – 39% of businesses now would lose money. This compares to 34% at the end of 2018 and represents an increase of 240,000 companies nationwide.
• The median time for financial losses to kick in from internet failures is 6 hours for businesses with employees today. This applies to employers of all sizes, from micro-companies with 2 to 10 employees to big companies with more than 250 staff members. 
• SMEs bore the brunt of internet disruptions in 2023, enduring an average of 3 to 4 failures and 19 hours of downtime each. Those working a standard 8-hour day and 5-day week lose more than two working days a year to downtime, around 1% of their productive time.
• The hospitality, IT, and manufacturing sectors experienced the highest levels of internet downtime and the biggest financial impact. On average, hospitality businesses lost 27 hours to downtime in 2023, while companies in the IT industry lost an estimated £555 million to connectivity failures.

Sonia Blizzard, Managing Director of Beaming, said: “The adoption of digital technologies has been a lifeline for business survival and a driver for increased prosperity in recent years, but this has come with a heightened dependence on connectivity. Companies are demanding more of their connectivity than ever before, and those relying on e-commerce, automation and public cloud services then incur the highest costs due to internet downtime.”

“Greater use of faster, stronger, more resilient forms of connectivity has helped reduce downtime, whilst downtime has become much more costly. Good planning, higher capacity services and expert support are vital now to reduce the risk of internet failure and the associated financial fallout.” 

Three network expansion projects and some data center funding: … [visit site to read more]

5G, the fifth generation of wireless mobile networking technology, represents a revolutionary leap forward, introducing groundbreaking advancements in speed, latency, capacity, connectivity, and the innovative concept of network slicing. As 5G gradually unfolds across the globe, it holds the promise of reshaping the technology and communication landscapes.

Exploring the tangible improvements to speed and latency, 5G technology is capable of delivering speeds up to 20 times faster than its predecessor, the 4G/LTE network. While actual figures may vary, Statista‘s research found the “reliable” 5G speed to be an average of seven times faster than 4G.

Perhaps more important even than speed, network latency refers to the time it takes data to travel from source to destination. Latency over a 5G network is expected to drop from around 50 milliseconds to an astonishingly low 1 millisecond, making interactions virtually instantaneous.

As 5G continues its rollout, the transformative impact on technology and communication is eagle anticipated.

Benefits of 5G for UCaaS

The implications of these impressive figures and other advancements ushered in by 5G are significant improvements within the Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) landscape. Below we will discuss five areas where 5G has the potential to elevate and refine unified communications solutions.

UHD Video Calling

Leveraging the high speeds and minimal latency of 5G, UCaaS solutions could deliver Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) video calling and conferencing. The crystal clear visual and voice quality would make virtual meetings and collaborations even more effective than before. Team meetings would be free from misunderstandings and interruptions, trainings would be highly effective, and conversations with customers would be professional and efficient.

Read more about the benefits of video conferencing in our article gloCOM Meeting: Expanding Growth Through Unification.

Remote Collaboration

While we have written extensively about the benefits of remote working and our tools to enable remote collaboration and productivity, it is crucial to also consider the challenges associated with working outside a traditional office setting.

One of the biggest hurdles faced by remote workers is internet reliability. Even the most sophisticated and well developed solutions can be compromised by low seeds and high latency, leading to problems with lag, subpar sound or video quality, and dropped connections.

Unleashing 5G around the globe holds the potential to be a gamechanger in refining hybrid work environments. With exceptionally high-speed connections, even in remote or rural areas, the prospect of uninterrupted productivity becomes a reality.

As 5G becomes increasingly pervasive, it will transform the landscape, offering a reliable foundation for seamless remote collaboration.

Network Slicing

With the introduction of 5G came network slicing, a cutting-edge technology that enables network administrators to partition the network into virtual “slices”, dedicated to specific and unique requirements.

In the realm of unified communications, network slicing emerges as a powerful tool to reserve bandwidth for specific applications or services. Imagine allocating slices of the network for activities like video conferencing, data backups, or customer interactions, ensuring optimal performance and customization within the UCaaS framework.

Mobility

Mobile devices have become an integral part of the contemporary workforce, with businesses increasingly adopting unified communications apps, hybrid work options, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies.

The transformative influence of 5G technology is already available on many mobile devices around the world, giving us a taste of the incredible benefits to come.

Where UCaaS mobile apps are already enabling on-the-go collaboration and seamless communication between locations, adding 5G to the mix would make call quality pristine with absolutely no change detected between locations.

Cloud Computing

The advantages of transitioning communication to the cloud are expansive and unmistakable. We have discussed those benefits extensively on our blog. So it comes as no surprise that shifting a greater portion of operations to the cloud would be wildly beneficial to businesses.

5G network speeds would support a full adoption of cloud technology, helping businesses to reduce upfront and ongoing costs and optimize their operational efficiencies and productivity.

Discovering Immersive Experience Technologies

The emergence of cutting-edge technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) brings vast potential to the UCaaS landscape to revolutionize meetings, collaborations, and training.

The integration of these technologies could be made seamless by 5G technology and its exceptional speed and minimal latency.

Virtual Reality, employing specialized headsets, creates a digital, interactive environment where users can engage and look or move around.

Augmented Reality, on the other hand, overlays digital information or graphics onto real-world surroundings, enhancing the user’s perception.

These immersive experience technologies could bring a paradigm shift in the dynamics of virtual meetings, collaborations, and trainings, and virtual assistants.

Envision having a holographic representation of the person you are speaking with or gaining virtual access to a distant environment. This sounds futuristic and abstract, but it has already been implemented in other sectors, the gaming sector for example with VR games and AR apps like Pokemon Go.

Integrating these same technologies, powered by 5G, into unified communications would open new doors to unprecedented levels of productivity and collaboration.

Challenges and Considerations

While the potential of integrating 5G with Unified Communications sounds promising and exciting, the journey is not without its hurdles.

We would be remiss not to discuss the challenges and considerations associated with this groundbreaking technology.

Finances

One of the most significant hurdles to universal deployment of 5G is the restrictive costs. Deploying a 5G network involves substantial investment in new infrastructure, including antennas, base stations, and other advanced technologies. These financial commitments can be a significant or impossible burden for businesses. 

Integrating 5G technology into UCaaS solutions may require adaptations or upgrades to existing infrastructures and hardware, incurring additional expenses. As organizations strive to embrace the enticing communications benefits of 5G, they must carefully weigh the financial implications and the ultimate Return on Investment (ROI).

Security

As with any new technology, we must consider the security and privacy risks that may come with integrating 5G into UCaaS. Vulnerabilities, from risk of attack to potential security breaches, have not been fully identified and addressed yet. 5G is a very high profile technology, making it an attractive target for track. 

As communications solutions providers, we are often responsible for protecting sensitive communication and data exchanges, so we cannot dive into new technologies without doing our due diligence. At the very least, the adoption of 5G should include the implementation of a plan for security and real-time monitoring.

Limited Access

As 5G is still in its rollout phase, coverage is not yet universally available to integrate into Unified Communications as a Service solutions. A report from Ericsson estimated that global 5G coverage would reach 45% by the end of 2023. It is expected to reach 85% in 2029.

Integrating 5G into a UC solution too early could result in spotty service, particularly in rural or remote areas or countries that have not begun deploying 5G, leading to disparities in the quality and reliability of the UCaaS services.

Looking Forward

The emergence of 5G technology and its implications are exciting, to say the least. Converging high network speeds, low latency, and the opportunity for immersive experiences with UCaaS opens the door to redefining communication and collaboration.

Despite the immense challenges holding us back, we cannot help but feel excited about the promise of transformative technology and unlimited innovation. Will you join us on this exciting journey into the future?

The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry contributes a staggering 1.8-2.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to research from 2020, and this is estimated to reach 830 million metric tons of CO2 by the year 2030 (source). To put this into context, these numbers are comparable to the aviation industry.

In 2015, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, The Paris Agreement was forged as a step to combat climate change, setting the goal to “substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to hold global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels” (source).

As participants and leaders in the ICT industry, we have a responsibility to do our part to meet these goals and decrease our greenhouse gas emissions. We should expect increasing government regulations and pressure from our customers and peers in the industry to do our part in the fight against global climate change.

Unified communications and cloud computing emerge as environmentally-friendly solutions that can decrease the carbon footprint for your company and customers.

Embrace this green technology to not only do your part for the earth, but also to set your company apart as a responsible leader and elevate your reputation and marketing platform. Giving priority to environmental-friendliness often has favorable effects in other areas of a company as well, like reducing costs and increasing efficiency and productivity.

The Environmental Impact of Traditional Communications Systems

Traditional phone systems and plain old phone systems (POTS) utilize more resources and energy than modern alternatives, leading to a larger carbon footprint.

Operating equipment and power consumption

Running over dedicated circuits, traditional phone systems necessitate the use of limited resources like copper wiring and phone cables. And much more significant than the materials themselves, the construction of these systems involves manufacturing, transportation, and installation which all use up energy and create waste and pollution.

Excessive waste

Traditional phone systems utilize hardware that needs to be replaced frequently. As systems are changed or updated, the existing hardware goes to waste. Traditional telephones and other handsets become obsolete relatively quickly which is not a sustainable approach to communications.

Hardware-dependent solutions

Many traditional communications systems depend on dedicated hardware for each mode of communication. For example, traditional faxing requires a dedicated fax machine that needs to be manufactured, maintained, and eventually upgraded. Projectors are used to share materials during conferences or meetings. So much of this hardware ends up in a landfill.

VoIP and Unified Communications as a Green Solution

VoIP, and particularly unified communications (UC), emerge as solutions to decrease our carbon footprint, the emission of greenhouse gasses, and the waste of resources.

Combine resources

By definition, unified communications combines a variety of communication and collaboration tools into one solution. This in and of itself is a step toward a greener solution. Consolidating services like voice, meeting, video, instant messaging, and more into one application decreases the number of service providers, devices, and equipment using energy and resources. By becoming a one-stop-shop for your customers, you simplify and decrease their usage of resources and energy.

Virtual meetings

It is easy to see how shifting from in-person meetings to virtual gatherings is good for the environment. With fewer people driving and less air travel, fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. In-person meetings typically involve other types of waste as well , such as printouts that waste paper, plastic water bottles or styrofoam coffee cups, and disposable food containers.

All of these things are completely negated when meetings go virtual and participants remain in their existing environments. gloCOM Meeting is an example of a feature-rich virtual meeting solution, enabling communication with face-to-face quality but no waste.

Remote workers

We can take these changes a step further by keeping employees at home as often as possible. In addition to decreasing the commute and its corresponding consumptions, working from home reduces the need for physical offices. In turn, this decreases energy spent on electricity, heat or air conditioning, Internet, and so many other resources that run large office spaces.

You can support the work-from-home movement both in your own organization and that of your customers. Your unified communications solution should have all of the tools necessary to support team collaboration and productivity from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Reduction in paper waste

Among the many tools in a comprehensive unified communications solution are Fax over IP (FoIP), file share, and screen sharing. These tools swap out physical documents for virtual ones, reducing wasted paper. Our unified communications app, gloCOM, supports faxing right from your computer or cellular phone, file sharing via individual or team chat, and screen sharing on voice calls, meetings, and video conferences. Minimizing the use of paper is such a simple, easy way to contribute to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Inventory

Pursuing higher efficiency in inventory management can decrease waste and excessive energy use. A unified communications solution can enable better organization and bridge the communication gap between managers, warehouses, and third-party suppliers to avoid miscommunications or unneeded orders and deliveries. This reduces wasted supplies and ultimately contributes to fewer trucks on the road. 

Less infrastructure

VoIP solutions can use existing infrastructure and equipment, negating the need for new physical products and the increased burden that would have on our environment. As systems are changed, updated, and maintained, the changes will be intangible with the same hardware and infrastructure used for years.

The majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the ICT sector are attributed to user devices (source), something completely out of our control. But offering solutions that support Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) options can help decrease the number of user devices out there.

The Role of Cloud Computing in Sustainability

Migrating to the cloud takes the green power of unified communications and VoIP one step further. Cloud computing increases efficiency and decreases waste.

Shared resources

The number one way that the cloud decreases the environmental burden of our communications is by consolidating and sharing resources. Cloud service providers utilize one data center for many users, thus sharing the energy and resources used between a much larger population. This allows users to spend far less on energy, on-site maintenance, and equipment. 

Many cloud service providers are already taking steps to make their data centers more green, and if they are not, they will probably be held responsible by increasing legislation in the coming years. Partnering with a cloud provider takes that burden off the user and supports change at a higher level.

Scalability

Another key way that cloud communications supports the environment is by supporting seamless scalability. As businesses grow, they will not need to upgrade their infrastructure and equipment, meaning no need for manufacturing or a visit from a deployment team. 

In the same way, businesses can scale their solution down when necessary so resources are not wasted. This ability to scale up and down ensures maximum efficiency to diminish the environmental impact wherever possible.

Remote management and updates

Maintenance and upgrades to cloud solutions can be done completely remotely, and often very quickly, so that minimal resources are spent on the process. No support team or maintenance workers will be required on-site, eliminating the need for travel and all that entails.

What Else You Can Do

In addition to offering unified communications and cloud solutions that support all of the benefits mentioned previously, there are other practical steps that your organization can take to decrease your carbon footprint.

Be responsible with hardware

You can avoid unnecessarily upgrading hardware for yourself and your customers. Whenever necessary, continue using existing handsets through changes in software and upgrades. If older hardware must be replaced, research how to recycle or reuse it. There are companies that will refurbish old handsets or repurpose their parts, avoiding more plastic in the landfills.

Decrease employee travel and commuting

Use your unified communications solution to allow your own team to work from home whenever possible. Of course some commuting and travel will always be necessary to support a productive workflow and positive human connections, but you can be wise and responsible in decreasing unnecessary travel wherever possible.

Future Trends and Innovations

As new technologies and innovations emerge in our industry, we will be able to decrease our carbon footprint even more. Partner with an industry leader like Bicom Systems to gain early access to emerging green technologies.

Renewable resources

Powering our solutions with renewable solar energy or wind would make them even more environmentally-friendly. As these options become increasingly accessible, we must prepare to embrace and encourage them in our users.

Artificial Intelligence

The trendy topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has its place in the sphere of preventing climate change as well. A recent study from Allianz found that “AI could help reduce global GHG emissions by around 1.5-4.0% by 2030 via productivity and efficiency gains” (source). AI is already highly present in the communications industry and we are constantly researching new ways to incorporate it into our solutions.

Bicom Systems Leads The Way

The present level of greenhouse gas emissions is concerning and provokes a sense of urgency. Even the smallest industry player can play a part in change by adopting some of the practices and solutions listed above. 

If you would like to get started with Bicom Systems, please contact us today.