Bonn/Gießen, 05.05.2022 Only on the basis of an energy-saving digital infrastructure can digitalization contribute to achieving climate targets. Due to their low power consumption compared to other infrastructures, real fiber optic networks offer the possibility of energy-efficient data transmission. This is confirmed by a recent report.

The potential to optimize the use of resources with the help of digital applications is enormous. However, the use of digital services, from private video streaming to cloud computing and the use of artificial intelligence, also consumes energy. An energy-saving digital infrastructure is therefore particularly important for achieving climate targets. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristof Obermann from the Technical University of Central Hesse (THM) has investigated the sustainability of various Internet access technologies on behalf of the German Broadband Association (BREKO).

The result: true fiber to the home (FTTH) networks have the lowest power consumption of all digital infrastructures. Study director Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristof Obermann comments on the results: “Although some optimistic assumptions were made with regard to FTTC and DOCSIS and very conservative ones for FTTH, the FTTH technologies considered here are the most sustainable of all compared Internet access technologies in every scenario – Germany-wide, urban, semi-urban and rural areas. They are significantly cheaper in terms of electricity consumption as well as in terms of the total weight of the system technology for the subscriber.”

The report from the Technical University provides information on the power consumption of the various Internet access technologies: pure fiber optic networks to the home (FTTH – Fiber to the Home) require up to 2.6 times less power during operation than fiber optic networks to the building (FTTB – Fiber to the Building), up to 3 times less power than copper-based vectoring/super-vectoring networks (FTTC – Fiber to the Curb) and up to 6 times less power than TV cable networks (in the DOCSIS 3.1).

If we compare the power consumption of all gigabit-capable technologies for a gigabit connection (1 Gbit/s), the advantage of fiber optic connections becomes even clearer. FTTH networks consume up to 3.6 times less electricity than FTTB networks and up to 8 times less electricity than TV cable networks.

Fiber optics clearly ahead in Germany-wide coverage

Extrapolated to Germany’s nationwide coverage, pure fiber optic networks (FTTH) would have an electricity consumption of 154 megawatts. By comparison, copper-based networks (FTTC) require 350 megawatts and TV cable networks 650 megawatts in the same scenario. Compared to TV cable networks, fiber optics could therefore save 496 megawatts. This corresponds to more than 50 percent of the output of the Schkopau lignite-fired power plant in Saxony-Anhalt. Power consumption can be further reduced by optimizing hardware components such as routers.

“Only on the basis of an energy-saving digital infrastructure can digitalization contribute to achieving climate targets. Thanks to their low energy consumption compared to other infrastructures, real fiber optic networks offer the possibility of energy-efficient data transmission right into buildings. They therefore make a genuine ecological contribution and are the future-proof basis for digitization. The fact that the new German government has finally set a real fiber optic target is an important milestone, and not just for this reason. Now it is important to ensure that the important implementation phase of the fiber-optic expansion is efficient and conserves resources,” explains BREKO Managing Director Dr. Stephan Albers.

Fiber optics more energy-efficient than 5G

Fiber optics also performs significantly better in comparison with the 5G mobile communications standard. A recent study by Eoptimo from Denmark compared the energy consumption of a 1 Gbit/s fiber optic connection with a corresponding 5G connection. The result: a fiber optic connection consumes 85 watts, the corresponding 5G connection 1,157.7 watts. The power consumption of a fiber optic connection (FTTH) is therefore 13 times lower than that of a 5G connection.

Open Access conserves resources

When it comes to sustainability, fiber optic networks have further advantages over other Internet access technologies. They enable almost unlimited gigabit speeds and are the only technology capable of providing equally high bandwidths for downloads and uploads. A building that receives a fiber optic connection today is therefore ideally equipped for the coming decades. No further expansion is necessary. This saves resources and also contributes to greater sustainability. Fiber optic networks also offer a high level of protection against outages. They are significantly less susceptible to interference than copper cables and can also be laid next to power and high-voltage lines without causing electromagnetic interference.

In order to ensure greater sustainability in expansion, the overbuilding of fiber optic networks should be avoided above all. Instead of building parallel networks, fiber optic networks should be utilized as fully as possible by means of open access. This saves costs and resources and contributes to fair competitive conditions.