US trumpets power usage declines in set-top boxes and home broadband

Internet and TV association the NCTA this week shared the results of a couple of annual reports from voluntary programmes under which key industry players – telcos, ISPs, kit makers and so forth – pledged to improve energy efficiency in the equipment they use in two key areas.

The first programme dates back to 2013 and covers video services, set-top box equipment in particular. National annual energy consumption by set-top boxes has fallen by around 68% since the start of the programme to 10.3 terawatt hours (TWh) last year, down from 32 TWh in 2012, according to the programme's 2023 annual report.

That decrease comes despite the fact that the functionality and features of set-top boxes has increased.

There is some impact from subscriber reductions, the NCTA and its various partners – the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and CableLabs are also involved – admit. However, the weighted average power usage of annual new set-top box purchases has fallen by 67% since 2013, to 40 kWh per year from 122 kWh, underscoring the broadly downward trend.

Or rather upward, given that this is all about the benefits of using less energy. The overall energy consumption decline is equivalent to 93 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, the report claims, or the same as removing around 21.9 million cars from US roads for a year. In addition, the financial saving for consumers is estimated at more than US$18 billion, which is a fair sum of money.

Those are great headline figures, and the NCTA is understandably keen to share them. Similarly, it has highlighted declines in power consumption for the small network equipment market, which comes under a later voluntary programme, set up on the back of the success of the first. But that market is more complicated; it's trickier to measure in a meaningful way. And looking beyond the headlines, the figures show that while the overall trend is downwards, the demand for greater broadband speeds means an uptick in power usage.

In the small network equipment (SNE) market, which includes products like the modems and routers used by consumers, is hard to make useful year-over-year comparisons of power usage in absolute terms since the devices themselves have changed significantly to support customer demand for increased speed and WiFi coverage, the NCTA explained. As such, the market report evaluates power levels measured against increased performance and capability.

That gives a headline figure of an 89% reduction in the weighted average power consumption across all categories of new SNE, relative to broadband speed delivered, over the 2015-2023 period.

While that figure has declined every year during the reporting period, the weighted average power of SNE devices bought or sold by the signatories has fluctuated, as the table shows, including a 6% increase between 2022 and 2023. That said, last year's figure is still 6% below the 2015 figure, despite the fact that newer SNE supports more robust features and functions.

And, of course, there is broadband speed to take into account. Last year Ookla data put the US average consumer fixed broadband download speed at 268 Mbps, up from 224 Mbps the previous year and just under 32 Mbps in 2015. That's a significant jump over just eight years.Essentially, the telcos, equipment makers and their peers – AT&T, Verizon, the cable companies, Netgear, Linksys and Google are among the signatories to the two programmes – are making significant inroads into power consumption and that is to be applauded. But the market also has to keep an eye on energy usage creeping up as the desire to go faster online grows.