Policy Instruments for Green Telecommunications

Abstract

Carbon emissions from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector contribute to approximately 4% of the total carbon emissions in India. With the objective of mitigating these carbon emissions, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) initiated a consultation in 2011 seeking stakeholder comments on various issues related to estimation and mitigation of the carbon footprint in the ICT sector. On the basis of these consultations, TRAI released its recommendations titled Approach towards Green Telecommunications which were accepted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) via a directive in early 2012.

The present study analyses the DoT directive from the lens of policy instruments for environmental management. The directive comprises of a wide array of policy instruments including a performance regulation instrument, a technology regulation instrument, a market based instrument, a voluntary instrument and two information instruments. This amalgamation of policy instruments is unlike that in any other jurisdiction or industry and therefore presents a unique opportunity for understanding the interplay between these instruments in the area of green telecommunications.

This paper is structured in the following manner. Chapter 1 introduces policy instruments for environmental management. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the TRAI recommendations and the DoT directive. Chapter 3 analyses the DoT directive from the lens of policy instruments. Chapter 4 analyses the interplay between these different policy instruments and concludes by providing recommendations on the basis of the analysis.

Keywords: green telecommunications, carbon emissions, policy instruments