Green Future Networks
Developing sustainable and environmentally conscious solutions.
„Green Future Networks is about turning sustainability into concrete action for the mobile industry. Through Phase 5, we are addressing Network Resilience, Sustainable AI Telecom Networks and energy-efficient Cooling Strategy to ensure future networks are both high-performing and environmentally responsible. We invite the industry to work with us in shaping a more sustainable and resilient digital infrastructure.“
Amr Saeed
Senior Programme Manager, NGMN
amr.saeed@ngmn.org
Programme Leads
-
Marie-Laure Lamouroux
Orange
Objectives
With Green Future Networks, NGMN is enabling the mobile industry to further transform and meet its environmental and sustainability goals. Since the initiative started in 2021, we have identified the key opportunities and challenges and made actionable recommendations on several key areas.
Develop requirements with a strong focus on customer-centricity. Engage with various stakeholders, monitor external 6G developments, and facilitate timely bilateral exchanges with relevant external organizations. Identify and analyze relevant standards development organizations (SDOs) and industry bodies to maximize the impact of NGMN.
The future is green when innovation grows
with responsibility.
Resilient Networks
- The project focuses on the definition of resilience in the context of telecommunication networks, the introduction of risks and related scenarios and the principles of resistance to these risks.
Sustainable AI Telecom Networks
- Defining metrics and measurement methods to characterize AI energy consumption and energy efficiency holistically, from a whole life cycle analysis (LCA) perspective, to enable sustainable AI-native telecom networks.
Cooling Strategy
- Identify the common challenges facing Mobile Operators in terms of energy demands and cooling needs, considering data growth; analyse a set of suitable cooling solutions; outline cooling strategies to address a variety of environmental and climate conditions.
Resilient Networks
Project Lead
-
Norbert Entstrasser
Deutsche Telekom
Project Co-Leads
-
Yuanyuan Huang
Orange -
Xavier Parmantier
Orange
Objectives
Mobile networks must become more resilient, with a strong emphasis on ensuring energy reliability, increasing physical infrastructure protection, and enhancing climate adaptation on a global scale.
- Approaches (all-hazards theory) & definitions
- Societal perspective
- Operator perspective
- Targeted risk clusters / scenarios
- Targeted systems
- Principles of resistance
Sustainable AI Telecom Networks
Project Lead
-
Rishikesh Chakraborty
Vodafone
Project Co-Lead
-
Antonio De Domenico
Huawei
Objectives
Address large-scale deployment of AI in telecom networks, which are increasingly focused on economic and environmental sustainability targets, is subject .
- AI energy consumption and energy efficiency
- Analysis of sustainable AI for added value network services
- Analysis of sustainable AI for energy efficient network functionalities
- Resource efficient AI solutions and models
- Assessment of trade-offs between AI performance, energy use, and operational cost.
Cooling Strategy
Project Lead
-
Rishikesh Chakraborty
Vodafone
Project Co-Lead
-
Veronica Nicolasalonso
Telefonica
Objectives
Evaluation if the current approaches to cooling are fit for purpose in addressing the industry’s environmental sustainability targets and identifying where more harmonisations may be needed.
- Cooling for network-side infrastructure (Data Centres and Base Stations including passive and active infrastructure)
- Current and future network architecture considerations, especially components more in need of cooling solution optimisations
Building a Sustainable Future for Mobile
High relevance to MNOs, industry and globe
Phase 5
2025/26
- Resilient Networks
- Sustainable AI Telecom Networks
- Cooling Strategy
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Get more information on NGMN membership.
Publications
Metering in RAN Transport Networks
This publication calls for the creation and harmonisation of energy metering standards across 5G RAN transport networks. It emphasises that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) urgently need accurate, standardised methods to measure energy consumption and to improve energy efficiency across front-, mid-, and backhaul networks — a critical step in reducing operational costs and meeting sustainability targets.
In this deliverable NGMN highlights that energy consumption and efficiency remain insufficiently addressed due to a wide landscape of telecom Standard Development Organisations (SDOs) and further standardisation bodies working on energy metering standards.
Environmental sustainability and reporting
The publication, “Green Future Networks: Environmental Sustainability and Reporting”, offers practical recommendations for addressing Scope 3 emissions – those generated across the broader value chain – which represent approximately 90% of total emissions for mobile network operators (MNOs).
NGMN advocates for a shift toward using primary (unit-based) emissions factors rather than traditional financial (price-based) ones to enhance reporting accuracy. The guidance also emphasises the need for greater collaboration and industry-wide alignment of calculation methods.
Green Future Networks: A Roadmap to Energy Efficient Mobile Networks
This latest NGMN publication outlines 16 different energy saving techniques and intelligent solutions that are currently used or under development in the industry. Supported by real-world data, the publication highlights the energy saving potential of each solution and classifies each by type and by the time needed to develop and deploy them.
According to the publication, energy consumption can be reduced through process optimisations, engineering and operational improvements, and the deployment of recent technologies. This is the latest phase of NGMN’s Green Future Networks programme, building on the previous publications that addressed the short-term solutions that mobile network operators (MNOs) could deploy.
Green Future Networks: Metering in Virtualised RAN Infrastructure
Being “green”, which entails energy efficiency and sustainability without compromising performance, is increasingly recognised as a hot topic and a prerequisite for enduring success today and in the future.
Through this publication, the NGMN Alliance delivers vital recommendations for industry standards, facilitating more precise and real-time estimations of energy consumed by virtualised or cloud-native network functions. It highlights the necessity of enhancing current 3GPP Virtual Network Function (VNF) / Cloud Network Function (CNF) energy consumption estimation frameworks for more precise measurement of energy consumption by VNF/CNF on shared IT/Cloud infrastructure.
Furthermore, the publication emphasises the implementation and the consideration by standardisation bodies of the Redfish® model published by DMTF as a starting point, and addresses the questions which data/parameters are measured, how, and which standards to align to.
Network Energy Efficiency Phase 2
The mobile industry through NGMN’s Green Future Networks Programme has come together to find solutions to increase network energy efficiency and enable operators to reduce their electricity consumption. In this publication we outline and prioritise the various options available to increase network energy efficiency. In particular energy saving approaches are organised into three broad categories (and time-horizons):
• process optimisations – short-term (chapter 2)
• engineering optimisations – medium-term (chapter 3)
• new technologies – long-term (chapter 4)
For each energy saving approach information is provided – based on data from live networks and/or simulations – on the size and scope of the potential energy savings.
Events
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