GlobalData has warned that mobile operators’ traditional ‘More4More’ pricing and monetization strategies, whereby they add more and more into the bundle (minutes, data, cloud storage, video streaming, TV etc), is at odds with internal sustainability principles and may need a rethink given the new level of carbon awareness among younger customers. The leading data and analytics company notes that the percentage of European mobile plans advertised as providing ‘unlimited data’ has risen dramatically in recent years, from just 4% of all mobile plans in 2019 to 15% in 2022, evidencing that unlimited data plans have become more commonplace in recent years.

Emma Mohr-McClune, Service Director of Consumer at GlobalData, said: “There’s clearly a go-to-market disconnect on display in the market today. Despite the tremendous energy given to network efficiency and supply chain management, we still see the vast majority of operators go to market with traditional ‘More4More’, ‘binge on’ and ‘unlimited data’ messages, as well as early device upgrade campaigns that encourage users to consume more digital services and switch to a new device faster without a thought to the CO2e cost of this rising mobile data consumption pattern.

“This doesn’t chime well with the mindfulness of the times, particularly against the backdrop of rising energy costs and inflation. Digital and online engagement, of all types, has a carbon cost. Spiralling digital consumption has a higher cost. This all needs some re-thought on the carrier consumer marketing side. The new carbon-guilt ‘Fridays for Future’ generation understand they need to dial back on cat video binge watching if they’re serious about saving the planet”.

A move towards carbon footprint aware packages would be in line with the wider movement in the telecoms and tech industries to address ESG* as an operational priority. GlobalData’s report, ‘ESG in Telecoms and Technology – Thematic Research, recognises ESG as the most important long-term issue facing the world, and notes how telecoms and tech companies of all sizes are embracing the challenge.

Robert Pritchard, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, noted: “Enterprise telecoms and technology service providers are majoring on ESG. When you access Google, for example, one of the first things you see is ‘carbon neutral since 2007’. These companies are working hard to measure, monitor, and improve their position in light of being substantial users of natural resources. Most—if not necessarily all—have committed to becoming carbon neutral far more quickly than government bodies worldwide. They also lead in setting strong social and governance goals, and are working hard to assist their customers in achieving their own ESG goals through technology.”

Such companies are also seeing results from their efforts. After Ericsson and Vodafone deployed an energy efficient 5G radio solution, Vodafone’s daily network energy usage decreased by an average of 43% and 55% during peak and off-peak times, respectively, as compared to previous generations of radio technologies.

Saqlain Ali, Technology Analyst at GlobalData, observed: “Innovative technologies are the most efficient tools to accelerate ESG. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), federated learning (FL) and block chain can play an important role in developing energy efficient future networks and enabling trusted and standardized ESG-related data collection, management and reporting. Telecom vendors are committed to achieving sustainability targets and looking forward to investing in energy efficiency-led research and development projects to become more ESG-compliant. However, at the same time, operators appear to be struggling with new marketing challenges on the consumer side.”

GlobalData will be hosting a webinar on the subject of ESG in Telecoms and Tech on September 15, 2022. Please click here if you would like to register.

Listen to Emma Mohr-McClune and Robert Pritchard talk more about ESG in Telecoms in GlobalData’s latest Instant Insights podcast episode on Spotify.