i3 - July/August 2019 - 39

By Elliot Grimm

Policy

G R E E N P O L I CY

Honors for Improving Home
Tech Energy Efficiency

agreement and developing its technical
requirements, Larry Robinson, senior
vice president and segment leader,
Customer Premises Equipment at
CommScope, noted how "the initiative
echoes our own philosophy of conservation through innovation. By constantly
improving the technology we use to
stay connected, we're creating a
brighter, greener future for everyone."
Notably, the agreement's signatories
include all of the nation's largest consumer internet service providers (Altice, AT&T,
CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier and Verizon)
and also major manufacturers (Actiontec, ARRIS, Netgear,
Technicolor and Ubee). CableLabs also led research and
development of energy efficiency strategies and supported
implementation of the agreement.
CTA and NCTA created the SNE agreement based off the
success of the award-winning voluntary agreement for set-top
boxes (STB). Environmental Leader also recognized the STB
agreement's achievements when it was named a Project of the
Year in 2016. Once the industry saw how this collaborative,
voluntary approach could effectively improve the energy
efficiency of STBs, stakeholders created a new agreement involving the energy used by other essential
home tech devices - internet equipment.
The success of the agreement ultimately shows how effective voluntary,
private sector-driven agreements
can be in providing meaningful energy and cost savings
to consumers and the
country. Whether by
innovating devices that
are faster and smarter, or
ones that help reduce
energy costs, the industry
is taking strong leadership in improving the
energy efficiency of home
technology.

s industry innovation connects millions of U.S.
homes every day, CTA and the Internet & Television
Association (NCTA) are working closely with internet
service providers and manufacturers to improve the energy efficiency of broadband devices and save consumers money. Though
launched just a few years ago, the industry's Small Network
Equipment Voluntary Agreement (SNE-VA) has already
achieved remarkable results and just recently earned the seventh
annual Environmental Leader's Project of the Year Award.

The environmental trade publication of the same name
announced the winners of this year's awards at the
Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference in
Denver, CO, on May 14. Award organizers selected recipients
based on the success and capabilities of their project or product, and its positive contribution toward sustainability. In
praising CTA and NCTA's initiative, judges cited its rapid and
successful results as well as its establishment of an effective
alternative to traditional regulation that's better suited for
fast-moving industries.
The industry launched the agreement in 2015 after CTA and
NCTA had spent months collaborating with major internet
service providers and device manufacturers on its development. Less than five years later, the initiative has
consistently reached its goals. According to the
latest independent auditor's annual report, the
VA already improved the efficiency of home
internet devices - such as modems and
routers - by 20%. The same report
also found 98% of units met rigorous efficiency standards even
as consumers demanded more
capable devices to support
higher speeds and emerging
smart home technologies
within their home.

Vipul Umretiya/Getty Images

A Greener Future

Commenting on his company's key role establishing the

C TA . t e c h / i 3

JULY/AUGUST 2019

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i3 - July/August 2019

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