The average weighted power of new modems, routers and other internet equipment purchased and sold in 2022 for U.S. residential broadband subscribers decreased by 12% from 2021, as a result of the industry voluntary agreement for small network equipment (SNE) led by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, NCTA - The Internet & Television Association and CableLabs. Since the agreement was implemented in 2015, energy efficiency of new internet equipment has improved by 87% when measured relative to average broadband speeds, according to a new independent audit report issued by D+R International, Ltd.
Under the voluntary agreement, signatories commit that at least 90% of all SNE purchased by each service provider or sold by each manufacturer at retail each year will meet the energy-efficiency levels established under the voluntary agreement. The audit report found that more than 98% of new devices met these levels in 2022, the final year before the program’s efficiency levels became even more stringent in 2023.
“The broadband industry can be proud of reducing the average energy usage of new home Internet devices even as those new devices have been redesigned to support higher speeds, more connected devices, and more robust Wi-Fi signals,” said Doug Johnson, vice president of technology policy, CTA. “The Voluntary Agreement is achieving energy policy objectives while also fostering the technological innovation that underlies the growth of the increasingly vital Internet economy.”
“The momentum and success of the agreement is a testament to the commitment by these companies to drive energy efficiency in broadband networking products while constantly innovating ways to deliver increased speeds, reliability, and capabilities to consumers,” said Debbie Fitzgerald, Principal Architect and Director, CableLabs.
All of the large Internet Service Providers participate in the program, and the addition of numerous additional manufacturers makes this report for 2022 the most complete yet in covering the retail market for SNE devices, with more than 400 unique models reported. This report is also the first in which Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the nation’s largest utility, participated as an “Energy Advocate” to assure the rigor of the program’s commitments and to validate the reports of its progress.
Signatories of the voluntary agreement include the major U.S. broadband Internet service providers (Altice USA, AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, Lumen, and Verizon), manufacturers of SNE sold in the United States (Actiontec, ASUS, CommScope, eero, Google, Linksys, Netgear, Plume, Sagemcom, TP-Link, Vantiva (formerly Technicolor), and Ubee Interactive), and Pacific Gas & Electric.
More information about the award-winning voluntary agreement and the industry’s energy efficiency efforts is available at www.energy-efficiency.us.