The Dominant Role of CPE Energy Consumption in the Transition from DSL to PON Fixed Access Networks
(2026) ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S) — Location: Bern, Switzerland (8.June.2026)
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- The ICT sector accounts for approximately 4% of the global carbon footprint and 7% of the global electricity consumption. Within this sector, communication networks, and particularly internet access networks, account for about one-third of the carbon footprint. Fixed internet access networks are often overlooked compared to mobile access networks due to their superior energy efficiency. However, their consumption is equivalent to that of mobile networks because they offer a higher traffic capacity and include always-on customer premises equipment (CPEs) that are shared with a very limited number of users. Recently, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been switching from copper-based access networks (DSL) to fiberbased access networks (PONs), which allow for higher data rates and offer significant energy savings at the access node level. However, PON CPEs consume a significant amount of energy, especially when the ONU is separate from the Wi-Fi router (WR). This could counterbalance the energy savings expected from the transition from DSL to PON. In this study, we propose an energy consumption model using equipment data sheets for DSL, Gigabit PON (GPON), and 10 Gigabit Symmetrical PON (XGS-PON) access nodes. We then compare the consumption results to those of widely distributed CPEs, as a function of the user activity. Finally, we exploit the model to evaluate the consumption of a metropolitan fixed internet access network. Our results show that CPE consumption accounts for over 96% of PON consumption, and for over 78% of the consumption in DSL networks. XGSPON networks consume significantly more energy than GPON and DSL networks, which have comparable consumption levels when CPEs are included.
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Allard, M., Bol, D., & Louveaux, J. (2026). The Dominant Role of CPE Energy Consumption in the Transition from DSL to PON Fixed Access Networks. 2026 12th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S). Accepted/in-press. ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S), Bern, Switzerland. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/277919 (Original work published 2026)