During the energy crisis of 2022, the government invited the French to turn off their Internet boxes at night to save electricity. Revealed for the first time by Arcep, the telecoms regulator, in its “Annual survey for sustainable digital technology” published Thursday March 21, the electricity consumption of boxes and associated TV decoders is far from trivial.
In total, these fiber optic or ADSL boxes, present in more than 24 million homes, used 3.3 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2022, or around 2.2% of the household bill. This is three times more than what operators need to bring Internet traffic to their subscribers’ outlets. By adding their 4G and 5G mobile networks, the four major telecoms groups (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free) consumed 4.1 TWh of electricity in 2022.
Knowing that 95% of the consumption of a box is independent of the intensity and duration of the connection of the devices (phones, computers, tablets, etc.), the most effective way to save money is to turn it off when not in use. Over the last two years, being able to manually or automatically switch off your box has become a commercial argument for telecom operators. “Each time they release a new box, they emphasize the durability and energy efficiency of the device”, appreciates Laure de La Raudière, the president of Arcep. But “we will have to measure the objective reality of what is announced”warns the one who has made the environmental impact of digital technology one of its hobby horses.
“Take environmental issues into account”
The subject should feature prominently in the new strategic roadmap that the telecoms regulator plans to unveil this fall. “Digital technology contributes to the energy transition, by providing solutions or new tools. But it must also take into account, for itself, environmental issues”explains Mme of La Raudière. And, according to her, the reflection should not stop with operators alone. “It is the sector, in the broad sense, platforms, device manufacturers, operators and data centers, which must question the question of eco-design of the entire digital services chain. » According to the president of Arcep, the model of large social networks, which aims to capture the attention of their users as much as possible, in particular thanks to the automatic video distribution system, increases the environmental impact of the sector.