Green Telecom, Part VII: Verizon's greener network

There are a number of initiatives that Verizon has taken well beyond the test stage, including:

• Creating a commuter services program to help employees find commuting alternatives to work at some key sites. Verizon was named a top workplace for commuters by the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Department of Transportation.
• Encouraging customers to go paperless on billing and shareholders to receive their materials electronically as well. More than 7 million bills were viewed and paid online in 2007, eliminating 387 tons of paper, according to Verizon.
• Recycling or refurbishing more than 5 million cell phones since 2001 and keeping more than 200 tons of electronics waste and batteries out of landfills over the same period.

Verizon continues to work both within the industry – with ATIS, for example – to create a national energy standard for telecom networks, with other service providers globally and with federal energy authorities to explore more potential improvements, Graff said.

Previously: Part One of this series looks at AT&T’s green initiatives, while Part Two reports Callis Communications’ effort to reduce power used by VoIP gear. Part Three reports on iControl’s efforts to help service providers leverage home-security-system sales to also promote home automation and energy savings. Part Four explores new technology from Telco Systems to use solar power for data centers. Part Five looks at how Emerson Network Power is taking a comprehensive approach to reducing power consumption by its wireline and wireless customers. Part Six examines Verizon Business’ efforts to help its enterprise customers cut their energy consumption.