India crosses over into a new year at an interesting, difficult, and
challenging time.
Its telecom and tech industries, and the influence and impact of its two
million ICT workers, are on a high, and rising. The economy, facing a big
squeeze from the global recession, struggles to keep growing. And a people known
for their never-say-die spirit, entrepreneurship and jugadu streetside
innovation, are reeling from a year of terror.
In this new-year milieu, it may sound odd if I speak of green tech and power
as major issues. But even if you ignore the fact that the top threat facing this
21st-century peace-era world is global warming, which has melted thousands of
tonnes of ice, raised the mean sea level, and changed local weather patterns...
...you can't get over the fact that among the top three issues facing India,
and its telecom industry in this year ahead, will be power shortage.
It's pushing up costs. It's the single big opex cost for telcos. Large telcos
like BSNL or Bharti spend thousands of crore annually on power and backup costs,
not counting capex.
It's also the main driver for greener technology adoption in much of India:
the cost of backup power, and business continuity.
Across our group of publications at CyberMedia, we're taking up a common
focus in 2009 on green tech and energy efficiency: the needs, products,
solutions, opportunity.
Voice&Data will focus on the energy issues facing the telecom industry.
Other group publications will touch other dimensions: PCQuest will review and
test products and technology for power footprint and impact, Living Digital will
test phones and other mobile products.
Most products have an impact on power, a footprint: that's not just for
hardware. For instance, current phone apps like GPS-aided maps or instant
messenger clients reduce mobile battery life.
And there is the power impact of devices on standby. Take a tower in a remote
area that gets used only when a train passes... and the area gets power only
three hours a day. How important is it to cut down standby power draw? To invest
in green tech?
Voice&Data will write about the processes, products, technologies and
solutions to help you decide whether it makes business sense for you to invest
in green. Of course it does. But you need to figure out exactly how much, and
maybe we can help...
And of course, I need to hear about your challenges, questions, and answers,
in our journey toward greener technologies. Do you have a green roadmap? Of
course you do. How much have you spent, or saved, on green tech? Write to me.
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