As businesses examine energy and fuel costs as well as worker productivity, wireless companies have an opportunity to support the greening of the economy – and make money at the same time – by running applications over their networks that help other enterprises in their efforts to become more earth-friendly.
Insight Research chief analyst Bob Rosenberg called green product portfolios “a really significant revenue opportunity for carriers.
“This is not comparable to WiMAX, in that significant investment in infrastructure would be required to drive the first dollar of revenue through the door,” he added. “This is using existing capital infrastructure, so the money ka-chings right down to the bottom line.”
Insight identified five major areas of environmental applications for telecom companies who want to offer a green product portfolio:
–Transportation demand management, with the goal of using fuel resources more efficiently;
–Demand-side management of electricity resources, including remote management and control;
–Machine-to-machine communications, to increase operational efficiency and productivity in various settings;
–Recycling communications equipment;
–And environmental audit systems to comply with regulatory reporting.
While capitalizing on green applications can use existing wireless or wired networks, Rosenberg added, “You’ve got to bundle it in ways that are needed to meet the requirements for helping with environmental improvements, and market those effectively.”
But, he added, marketing is where many wireless companies fall short. Large companies may still be thinking of green in terms of being good corporate citizens, rather than as a revenue opportunity, Rosenberg said.
More business opportunities
But even if the applications and products aren’t specifically marketed as green just yet, wireless companies do have them and are seeing increased interest as companies get squeezed by higher costs.
Jay Olearain, associate director of industrial vertical sales for Verizon Wireless, noted that high-speed wireless connectivity via the company’s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network allows workers to have connectivity and work from home or other sites. Telecommuting helps employees as well as businesses trim not only the cost of gasoline, but the fuel emissions that come along with vehicle travel.
In a similar fashion, efficient fleet dispatching also helps businesses save on gasoline, Olearain added, and over-the-air maintenance of equipment instead of manual updates to firmware can cut down on trips by technicians. Mobile connectivity also can reduce the use of paper even as it improves accurate flow of information.
“In recent months, the discussions of the subject have increased due to fuel costs alone, not to mention the cost of goods, transportation and raw materials have gone up. More and more emphasis is being put on discussions and due diligence on how do we reduce costs through these type of services,” Olearain said.
According to David Lewis, marketing director for Nokia Siemens Networks, wireless technology can also support companies looking to go greener by cutting transportation costs – something as simple as downloading music instead of heading to the store to buy a CD that has been shipped aboard a truck.
M2M opportunities
The M2M space, which has seen an explosion of growth in the past year and a half, illustrates the point. M2M is being used in fleet management, but also to monitor the use of water in farming irrigation systems to avoid waste. M2M technology is also used in monitoring remote pipelines to prevent accidents and the resulting environmental impact.
Eric Linxweiler, VP of consulting at Logicalis Group, which helps companies design and deploy technology solutions, said that his company “hasn’t had customers coming to us saying, ‘I want to save so many tons of carbon dioxide, but they’ve all come and said, ‘I want to save money.’ You can save money with a conscience, and that’s really where green comes into play.”
He pointed out that converged products such as T-Mobile USA Inc.’s VoIP product that runs both via Wi-Fi and cellular networks allows businesses to reduce or eliminate the use of desk phones and the corresponding wires, while allowing more flexibility for employees and improved productivity.
In general, Linxweiler said, upgrading wireless technology is cheaper and easier than hard-wired telecom products, plus it cuts down on the use of wiring materials. In some cases, he said, companies eventually may be able to reduce their office space by supporting telecommuting.
“A lot of it really is driven by conservation of cash, conservation of resources – and in the same token, if you use less, it’s probably going to be better for the environment,” Linxweiler said.
Insight’s Rosenberg said that regardless of which political candidate wins the White House, he’s fairly convinced there will be a significant change in policy on greenhouse-gas emissions, perhaps opening up carbon credit trading that could be monetized, or new tax incentives.
Insight expects that business and consumer green communications revenue will reach $257 billion by 2013.
Wireless companies can position themselves to take advantage of the change – or, Rosenberg said, risk being beaten to the punch by utility companies or others that could develop wireless products of their own and sidestep cellular.
