Nokia And Short Term Green Charity Projects

There’s a nugget in a report that sounds like it’s a little Greenwashing. Nokia Siemens have announced that they’ve realized that they could make money by actually cutting the energy, and therefore the costs, that their transmitter stations use. With new technology and software, fewer base stations would also be needed for the most power-hungry part of a mobile telecom network. Reuters reports:

By the year 2010, it said it would reduce energy consumption of its GSM and WCDMA base stations to 650 watts and 300 watts respectively, from the current levels of 800 watts and 500 watts. “We have set ambitious goals that are reasonable both environmentally but also business-wise as energy is becoming more expensive,” Nokia Siemens’ head of environmentally sustainable business, Anne Larilahti, told Reuters in an interview.

Ok, ok - this could be seen as cost-cutting wrapped as greenwashing, but there’s something in this final comment about not being distracted by appearing to be green and actually just doing green:

“There is also the chance to make a profit,” Larilahti said adding that it was possible to have a “net positive” impact with greener products. “Only then, we can do this in the long term and not settle for short-term charity projects.”

Nokia Siemens sees profit from “greener” networks | Tech&Sci | Technology | Reuters.com