Interview
The telecom industry is at the forefront of digital transformation, but with growing concerns about energy consumption and environmental impact, operators and vendors are prioritising sustainability
In the WinWin Live Studio, Emanuel Kolta, Lead Analyst at GSMA Intelligence, sat down with Lim Yu Leong, Vice President, Group Strategy, Engineering and innovation at Singtel, and Singleton Zhou, President of Network Consulting and Integration services at Huawei GTS to discuss the Green Network Index (GNI), which is a figure developed by the GSMA to assess and compare the environmental sustainability of mobile networks.
Singtel has recently implemented the Singtel Group Environmental Framework, which focuses on two key areas:
- Climate action: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, integrating renewable energy, and optimising network energy efficiency.
- Product stewardship: Promoting responsible sourcing, sustainable packaging, and e-waste management to support a circular economy.
Singtel’s commitment to sustainability has earned it an A score on the CDP 2023 Climate Change assessment, up from A- in 2022, making it the first Southeast Asian telco to achieve this recognition.
From the carrier’s perspective, Huawei has also helped the advancement of green telcos. Zhou emphasised that legacy telecom equipment consumes excessive energy and space. To address this, Huawei has:
- Modernised 100,000 sites and 4,000 equipment rooms in 2024, helping operators save 740 million kWh of electricity.
- Reduced OPEX costs by optimising equipment usage and improving network migration.
- Supported zero-outage transitions using its NetLIVE platform, which uses digital twin technology and AI-driven risk assessment to ensure seamless migrations.
Another huge challenge in modernising telecom networks is maintaining reliability. According to ENISA statistics, network incidents have increased by 35% annually, making resilience an even bigger priority.
To combat this, Huawei has deployed its security and resilience networks solution, enabling operators to proactively manage risks. Their NetLIVE platform has already prevented 30+ operational risks in network change projects and improved first-time success rates to 99.99%.
“We have deployed network resilience solution in several projects. Carrier A’s core network fault can cause a 12-hour interruption, affecting more than 5 million users. After reconstruction, the interruption time was shortened to 1.5 hours, and only 1 million users were being affected,” said Zhou.
“In addition, the network accident rate was reduced by 70% as well. China operator B adopted our network change resilience solution, which has intercepted more than 30 operation risks. For implementing ‘network change’ request, the ‘first-time success rate’ exceeded 99.99%, and no major accident has occurred,” he continued.
The Green Network Index (GNI) provides telecom operators with a structured approach to measuring sustainability efforts. For Singtel, the GNI has been a valuable benchmarking tool, allowing it to:
– Assess its carbon footprint and energy efficiency.
– Identify areas for improvement and enhance network sustainability.
– Align with global best practices in green telecom operations.
For Huawei, the GNI has helped standardise energy conservation efforts across more than 200 operators worldwide. Their NetLIVE platform, currently deployed in multiple regions, enables operators to track and optimise their environmental performance in real time.
Looking forward, Singtel will continue refining its sustainability strategies and leveraging the GNI for continuous improvement. Huawei will expand its collaboration with global operators, focusing on low-carbon development and energy-efficient technologies.
“We firmly believe that deep collaboration is key to accelerating green transformation in the ICT industry. Singtel’s strategy to systematically advance carbon reduction through the GNI aligns closely with Huawei’s philosophy of “More Bits, Less Watts”.,” said Zhou.